The Change
by Katastrofe
Summary: While Harry is taken to Grimmauld Place before his fifth year, he meets Tonks. At first, there is a lot of tension between the two of them, until Tonks confronts him about it. They work past their differences and Tonks helps Harry to take his life in his own hands, instead of letting people running it for him.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer : I do not own anything of the Harry Potter universe, it all belongs to JK Rowling, I just love writing about the fantastic universe she presented us.**

 **This story is/was posted on my other account, since I had trouble posting a new story on this account. Now that it is all worked out, I'm moving that story here, since that will be easier to manage all of my stories. The story is mostly the same as before, minus some mistakes or typos.**

 **If there are still grammer or spelling mistakes, please let me know. English isn't my native language (plus I have dyslexia), so it is possible that there are still a few mistakes in my stories even though I edit them before I post them. I hope you'll enjoy the story.**

 **The Change - chapter 1**

When the advanced guard arrived at Privet Drive 4 to guide Harry to London, Harry had first noticed the violet haired young woman who was part of the guard. Throughout the ordeal at the Dursleys, Harry couldn't help but noticing her, especially when she had changed her hair to bubble-gum pink.

Tonks on the other hand had been surprised at the cool reaction Harry gave to her morphing. Most people who saw her morphing for the first time were shocked at first, amazed later and then they started putting in requests. Harry had just looked at her for a moment with big eyes, before he had focused back on his task of packing his trunk.

While they were flying to London, Harry sometimes sneaked a peak at Tonks, but mostly kept his attention to the flying.

Through the first week of Harry's stay at Grimmauld Place, Harry stared at her while she was performing her morphs, while keeping a cold and uninterested look at her. Tonks at the same time, observed the teen that was often sitting in the same room and couldn't figure out his behavior.

Finally, after dinner, a week and a half after Harry had arrived at the headquarters and two days after the hearing, Tonks snatched him while he was descending the staircase and pulled him in her room, since she stayed at Grimmauld Place to keep Sirius company. She pushed Harry against the wall and snarled "What is your problem with me?"

Harry looked at her for a while before he slowly answered "There is nothing wrong with you Tonks"

"Those are the first words you have spoken to me since we left your relatives and you keep staring at me with that cold look when I'm in the room. Care to explain what I did to deserve that?" Tonks almost spat out.

Harry gave her a very calm answer "I was merely observing you"

"Why?" Tonks almost shouted, the fact that he stayed so calm annoyed her even more.

"Honestly, I was observing your metamorphmagus skills and…" but he broke of what he wanted to say since Tonks interupted him.

"And what, you were wondering if I wanted to pose as someone for you, you had a request about how I should look. Fantasizing about the possibilities?"

Harry looked at her shocked that she thought that, so he softly asked "Is that the general reaction you get to you morphing?"

Tonks was surprised at the change of tone in his voice "Why do you care?"

"Because I can probably understand a few things better than you can imagine" Harry replied.

"You have no idea how it is, every time when you come close to someone, your heart is shattered again because they only care about your morphing" Tonks said again angered by the reply.

"That might be true, but I do know what it feels like to be punished for it and I know how it feels like that people only want you for something, in my case, my fame" Harry told her earnestly.

"Don't try to do like you know what I'm talking about, you're just trying to talk yourself out of the fact you were watching me" Tonks yelled.

This time, Harry lost his patience and yelled back "Look at me very closely and you'll know part of the reason why I was watching you that closely"

He looked her in the eye and her grey eyes were fiercely looking back at him. He started changing the color of his eye, going through almost the entire rainbow, before he settled on his regular green eyes again.

Flabbergasted, Tonks looked at him with her mouth full teeth.

Harry turned from her before he spoke "The first time I showed this ability, that I can remember, I was four or five years old. My aunt was sick of my unruly hair that never changed, not even after a visit to the hairdresser, so one evening she just cut it all off, leaving only my fringe to cover my scar. That night, I prayed to everybody I could think off, that I wouldn't have to go to school the next day, looking like that. When I got out of my cupboard the next morning, my hair had grown back"

"Your cupboard" was the first thing that Tonks managed to ask.

"Yes, the first ten years I lived with the Dursleys, my bedroom was the cupboard under the stairs. After the incident with my hair, they locked my inside for three days without food, after uncle Vernon had punished me of course"

Tonks cursed. She had no idea how they had gotten to the subject, but it was very clear to her at that moment that Harry's treatment with his relatives had been a lot worse than the order had expected.

Since Tonks didn't say anything, Harry did "So I know to a certain extent that this can be a curse. I quickly learned how to control it completely, since the repercussions were always very grave... I was looking at you in envy Tonks"

You could hear a pin drop in the room, while Tonks looked at the young man in front of her in a different light.

Eventually, under the gazing look of Tonks, Harry sagged against the wall and said "I don't have a problem with you, you just remind me of the punishments I got for doing what you do, but on the other hand I'm also fascinated by the amount of change you can do" and his eyes were downcast to the ground.

Tonks didn't know what do to except giving him some comfort by sitting next to him and wrapping her arm over his shoulders. They sat there for a long while until Tonks had to ask, afraid for the answer "What did your uncle do to you"

A tear rolled down from Harry's cheek. Instead of answering, he pulled off his t-shirt and concentrated on the base form for his trunk.

A gasp escaped from Tonks' mouth, when she saw the many scars on his body, not leaving much normal skin untouched. The sight that made her heart break the most were the red welts in different stages of the healing process, that stood out between the scars. She slowly got up and rummaged through one of her dresser draws, got something out of it, before she went to sit again next to Harry.

She unscrewed the lid of the pot of salve, took a bit on her hand and carefully applied it to the wounds. Harry had first flinched involuntarily at the touch, but then he could feel the relieve almost immediately. The fading in the pain of his back made Harry relax a bit.

"Thank you, that had been hurting for a while now" Harry admitted.

"Why did you never told anyone?" Tonks asked him softly.

Harry gave a sarcastic chuckle "I once told my primary teacher, the only consequence was my uncle finding out and the repercussions made it sure that I wouldn't tell anyone else. It's better now though"

Tonks growled "How bad has it been if you say that it's better now?"

"I'm not sure if you're up to knowing how bad it really was" Harry explained.

"I would like to understand" Tonks almost begged.

Harry nodded "If you're sure, but I'm not sure if I can tell you about it"

"If you want, I can perform Legilimency on you, that is entering your mind and going through your memories" Tonks suggested.

Harry shrugged, at that point, he didn't really care anymore, he was too relieved to have someone listening to him for a change. "Go ahead"

Before Tonks did, she closed the door of the room with a few spells and warded it too. Then she looked him straight in the eyes and performed the spell.

She appeared in Harry's mind, but was surprised when she was joined by a projection of Harry.

"How did you do that? Entering your own mind like that?" Tonks questioned.

"You'll see when I started doing so" Harry cryptically answered.

Harry then led her to the doors that were locked away as best as he could and the farthest in his mind. Opening them, he directed Tonks through his childhood memories with the Dursleys. Tonks didn't say anything, while she watched the abuse play out in front of her eyes. Standing there in silence, tears running down her face, was all she could do to compose herself and not to start vomiting or wanting to punch the memories of Harry's relatives. She had also seen the point that Harry started to retreat himself into his own mind when the pain was starting to be too much and the need to do so, to escape the pain a little bit.

The blood in Harry's face had drained too, so after he had shown Tonks his worst memories, he led her to his fondest memories. His first time seeing Diagon Alley, flying a broom and one of the memories was surprisingly Tonks that changed her appearances at Grimmaulds Place.

"Why is that one of your better memories?" Tonks asked him.

Harry laughed a little "It might make me a bit jealous, but it also made me realize I'm not the only metamorphmagus, I quite like that, at least one thing I'm not alone in"

After they were done watching some more of his memories Tonks said "If you want, we can try something. I want you to know about my past since it only seems fair after you showed me your memories"

"I don't want to intrude"

"Harry, we are talking in your mind as we speak, which pretty much says I'm intruding your private space. So if you want I will show you my memories, the reason I'm so bitter towards men and their morphing requests. You don't have too, but… " she didn't finish her sentence. She knew it would be nice to have someone that knew about her full past, but she didn't really want to burden him more.

Harry observed her for a moment and saw this need, so he nodded .Tonks told him to try and follow her presence while she went back to her own mind. She even grabbed his hand to aid in this fact and was surprised at the safe feeling it gave her. Emboldened by this, they managed to jump to her mind.

"Wow, that was weird" Tonks said, while she pulled Harry behind her in her own mind.

"This whole experience is weird for me" Harry admitted.

Tonks understood, so she stood still for a moment and warned Harry "I'll show you my memories that are locked up. They aren't as bad as yours, but they were definitely defining"

They went to the locked door and Tonks showed him how her first years at Hogwarts were quite normal and fun, but the moment guys started to get interested in girls, it went downhill. It started with the request to pose as someone else, or change her appearance to the likings of her dates. It showed how Hogwarts started to spread rumors about her and people calling her a whore. It showed how she was emotionally and physically bullied by her peers and by the people that once were her friends. The last memory she showed was one of a very lonely and guarded Tonks in her last year, where she had started something with another boy of her year whom she thought really cared about her. It ended in the boy becoming violent and trying to rape her after she refused to do what he wanted. The memory ended with Tonks' accidental magic kicking in and blowing the guy away from her.

With the ending of that memory, Harry was also forced out of Tonks' mind. She was sobbing uncontrollable, so Harry folded his arms around her and kept her close, muttering comforting words. When Tonks had calmed down enough she spoke "You are the only one who knows about this Harry, I never had the strength to tell. I haven't been on a date or let a man come close to me again since then. I also joined the aurors because of that"

Harry went with his hand through Tonks' hair "It's amazing that you are still so optimistic"

"You're one to tell" Tonks retorted.

Harry laughed and it took him a while before he could contain himself again "You're right about that one. I've always told myself I wouldn't let the Dursleys bring me down"

Tonks just nodded and she repositioned her head on his shoulder so she would be more comfortable.

"I'm not sure what it is that you do Harry, but I've never felt this safe before with a man and I sure as hell never thought I would tell someone about what happened to me" and a shiver went down her spine.

"I never told Hermione or Ron any about this, not about the Dursleys or about my morphing skills and you just make me spill my darkest secrets"

Tonks' eyes narrowed again at the mention of Harry's relatives and she told him "I'm going to see what I can do so you won't have to go back to them anymore. I don't care what Dumbledore says"

Harry smiled. It felt good to have someone on his side. "Thank you" and he placed a kiss on her forehead.

Tonks stiffened for a moment by the action before a warm tingling feeling spread through her body.

"Sorry" Harry said and he scooted away from her.

A feeling of loss come over Tonks, the moment their bodies stopped connecting. She took Harry's hand as fast as he let her, if only to establish the connection again and told him "I just didn't expected that. It's alright"

Harry nodded, but he didn't do anything to change their new positions. Tonks sighted and took the matter in her own hands and just went closer again before she nestled herself on his shoulder once more. "That's better" she said contently.

"What are you doing" Harry asked awkwardly.

Tonks shrugged "I don't know, but this feels good"

Harry couldn't disagree, so he pulled her even closer and enjoyed the feeling of being close to her. He didn't know how long they had been sitting there before he noticed that Tonks had fallen asleep on his shoulder. Carefully to not wake her up, he turned, so he could scoop her up bridal style and lay her in her bed. Removing her shoes and then pulling the blanket over her. He gave her a kiss on the forehead again before he turned to leave the room.

When he came at the door, he tried to open it, but wasn't successful. He remembered Tonks putting up spells before the Legilimency and realized he wouldn't get out of her room without her waking up. Since he didn't want her to wake up, he decided to try and sleep some himself, so he went to lay down on the floor after taking out a blanket from the closet.

Feeling relax, Harry drifted off quite rapidly, even though he was sleeping on a wooden floor, after all, he was used to sleeping in worse circumstances.

The next morning, Tonks woke first, got out of bed and started changing before she noticed the sleeping form on the ground. Frowning, she quickly completed dressing and went over to Harry.

She softly said "Harry, why are you sleeping on the floor of my bedroom?"

Harry woke by her voice and looked around in confusion for a few moments before he answered "You fell asleep on my shoulder yesterday, so I put you in bed. I wanted to leave your room, but you warded it so good that I couldn't, so I slept, here, I hope you don't mind?"

"I don't mind you sleeping in my room, but why didn't you wake me? Or slept in my bed, there was place enough"

"I didn't want to wake you since you were sleeping so peacefully and I wouldn't have intruded on you privacy like that" plainly answered Harry.

Tonks smiled and sat next to him "That is actually really nice to hear"

Harry smiled back at her and went to sit up next to Tonks. They were silent for a while, just sitting there in silence until they heard Mrs. Weasley calling everybody for breakfast.

Harry panicked for a moment "What are we going to say?"

"Relax, we'll just tell them we wanted to work through our differences. Everybody will believe that because of your cool attitude you gave me before yesterday. We explain that I warded the room to have some privacy, but that I fell asleep and you couldn't leave the room. Simple as that" Tonks told him calmly.

Harry just nodded but turned to her and absentmindedly bit his lip "You won't tell anyone what I told you?"

She placed a hand on his shoulder and he already calmed down "They would have to kill me first, before I would say something you wouldn't want me to"

"I promise I won't tell anyone either"

"I know, now let's go downstairs and face the possible storm" she said with a wink.

She removed the wards she had put up and they descended the stairs. When Harry entered the kitchen immediately Ron asked "Where were you last night mate, you weren't in your bed?"

"Ron leave him be" Mrs. Weasley scolded him before she placed a plate of breakfast in front of Harry and Tonks.

Harry looked at her questioningly and she told him "When we couldn't find you yesterday, Moody scanned the house and found you sleeping on the floor in Tonks' warded room, you can explain to me later what happened, but first eat"

Both Harry and Tonks didn't need to be told twice and when they were done with breakfast Mrs. Weasley led them to the sitting room, closing the door behind her.

"Now, care to explain how you ended up sleeping on the floor of Tonks' room?" she asked Harry.

Instead of Harry, Tonks began "It's partly my fault Mrs. Weasley. I was sick of the situation between Harry and myself, so I dragged him in my room to talk to him. I warded it since I wanted some privacy. We talked and worked out our differenced"

"We were talking afterwards when Tonks fell asleep on my shoulder, so I put her in her bed and tried to leave her room. I couldn't so I took a blanket and slept on the floor" Harry picked up.

Mrs. Weasley sat there, looking at the two in front of her and she knew they were sincere, especially since Moody had already informed her about it.

"I believe you, can I ask what the cause was of your differences?" she asked them.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Weasley, but I promised not to tell anyone what I learned yesterday, I don't plan on doing so" Harry told her.

"The same for me, I promised I wouldn't tell anyone without his permission" Tonks added.

Mrs. Weasley smiled hearing this and suggested towards Harry "Why don't you go to the living room and help Hermione and Ron who should have started cleaning up there"

Harry feeling he was dismissed, left the room. Mrs. Weasley then turned to Tonks "I don't want to impose, but what are your intentions with Harry?"

Tonks looked shocked at hearing that question and asked "What do you mean?"

"I love Harry as my own son Tonks, I don't want to see him hurt. He looks at you with trust and I saw the same thing from you. Something I haven't seen from either of you before"

"I'm not planning on hurting Harry. Yesterday was the first time we talked, but I would like to be his friend I think" Tonks answered.

"I trust you'll do the right thing Tonks" Mrs. Weasley said "I'm glad he'll hopefully have someone to open up too"

Tonks smiled before she left.

The last two weeks of the holiday passed much more pleasantly than the weeks before. During the day, Harry helped with Mrs. Weasley and the others in cleaning the house, whilst talking to Hermione, Ron, the twins and Ginny. At the evenings after dinner when Tonks was home from work, they would talk and Tonks helped him with his morphing. Tonks would still ward the room for privacy, but it hadn't happened again that Harry couldn't leave the room.

On September first, Tonks accompanied the group to Kings Cross Station and just before Harry wanted to board the train, she pulled him aside.

"We don't have that much time, but I heard that Dolores Umbridge, Fudge's undersecretary has taken on the post of DADA teacher. Since the view of the ministry towards you isn't positive at all, try not to provoke her please" Tonks told him.

"I'll try" was the only thing Harry could promise her.

"I would have asked you to write me, but with Umbridge there, I don't think that's safe. I did got you this, it's a two way parchment. You write on it, and it appears on my parchment immediately. After I answered it, it will disappear again" Tonks explained when she gave Harry the piece of parchment.

"Thank you Tonks" Harry said with a smile.

Tonks pulled him in a hug and said "Take care Harry, if there is something going on, please let me know"

Harry nodded before they broke the hug and Harry boarded the train.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer : I do not own anything of the Harry Potter universe, it all belongs to JK Rowling, I just love writing about the fantastic universe she presented us.**

 **This story is/was posted on my other account, since I had trouble posting a new story on this account. Now that it is all worked out, I'm moving that story here, since that will be easier to manage all of my stories. The story is mostly the same as before, minus some mistakes or typos.**

 **If there are still grammer or spelling mistakes, please let me know. English isn't my native language (plus I have dyslexia), so it is possible that there are still a few mistakes in my stories even though I edit them before I post them. I hope you'll enjoy the story.**

 **The Change - chapter 2**

Harry's first semester of his fifth year resembled a lot like hell for him. He didn't have that much trouble controlling his anger, thanks to his writing with Tonks, but Umbridge had singled him out from the first lesson. Even though she couldn't tempt him to say what she wanted to hear, she used every little infraction to give him detention with her.

She made him write 'I must not tell lies' over and over with a blood quill and she kept on saying to him that he was a liar, for telling the world that Voldemort was back.

Harry went through those detentions with his head held high, not wanting to give in with that awful woman and Tonks had given him a spell that would help heal the wounds on his hand.

When Tonks had first heard about the blood quill, she had wanted to go and tell her boss about it, since it is illegal, but Harry made her promise him she wouldn't and she had held her word. He had managed to convince her, by telling her that it wouldn't do anything good, that it might even make the situation worse than it was at that moment. She had made him promise though that if she tried to do anything else, he would tell her so she could take action towards that vile woman.

Thanks to the help and urging from Hermione, he had formed the DA and learned the members everything he could, as often as he could. He knew what was waiting for them and he wanted them to be prepared.

During the nights he couldn't sleep, he would slip out of Gryffindor Tower and go towards the room of requirement, to train himself, to keep the nightmares away. Keeping the nightmares away was however only one reason why he went to train there as often as he could. He was well aware that Voldemort had it out for him, so he tried to make sure he wouldn't be completely defenseless.

He read a lot of books in his free time, which was a lot more since Umbridge had banned him from Quidditch. A lot of those books were about Defense Against the Dark Arts, but also about other topics. His schoolwork had vastly improved and the professors were surprised to see Harry so focused on his essays and in class itself too. Even more so since they all knew very well that Umbridge was terrorizing him, which they sadly couldn't do anything about it.

The night of the last DA meeting, he left the room of requirements with Ron and Hermione and made way to his bed, exhausted, but also very proud of the work he had accomplished with his peers. Even Neville had been able to successfully stun someone. It made him feel a bit better, knowing that his friends and fellow students would be able to protect themselves a bit during the holidays, if the situation would arise.

That night however, after seeing Cedric die in his dreams again, the dream shifted to the often recurring dream of the hallways, but this time the dream continued and he saw how he was attacking Mr. Weasley. After he woke up, completely covered in sweat, he was herded to the headmasters office, where he recounted what he had seen. Once they had found Mr. Weasley, he was whisked away with the portkey towards Grimmaulds Place, together with the other Weasleys. After hearing the somewhat comforting words that Mr. Weasley would be alright, he locked himself up in Tonks' room, since she wasn't there at that moment. He had hoped to speak to her, but since he didn't found her, he just locked the door and took the blanket he had used the first night there and placed himself on the ground again.

When Tonks wanted to enter her room after a night shift. Surprised that it was locked, she carefully entered and saw Harry, sleeping on the ground. Not knowing what to do, she decided the wake him up, since there must have been a good reason for him being in her room.

"Harry" Tonks said while she shook his shoulder.

Harry bolted upright immediately, with his wand drawn in his hand, but when he saw Tonks, all the energy left him and he slumped against the wall sobbing uncontrollably.

Tonks took him in a hug, rubbing over his back, trying to calm him down. It took her a long time, but when he had finally stopped sobbing, she asked "What happened?"

"I was sleeping, seeing Cedric die again in my dreams, when the scenery changed again, to one more familiar. It's a scene I have been dreaming of for months, but this time, I was moving through the corridor I had been dreaming off until I saw Mr. Weasley. Next thing I knew, I was attacking him, biting him multiple time. I didn't want to do it, you have to believe me, but I couldn't stop it. I woke up and told the headmaster. They found Mr. Weasley and he's in St. Mungo's now"

Tonks started to rub his back again, since he had started crying again "You didn't attack Mr. Weasley Harry, you couldn't have done anything to stop it. They know it was a snake who attacked him and they guess it was Nagini, Voldemort's pet snake"

"But I saw with my own eyes how I attacked him" Harry muttered.

"And where were you when you saw that, where were you physically?"

"In my bed" Harry had to admit.

"Exactly, you couldn't have attacked him, you were just observing it" Tonks explained.

Harry nodded but said "In Dumbledore's office afterwards, there was a moment that I was so angry at him, that I wanted to lash out, but it was like it wasn't my own feelings"

"I'm not sure what could have brought that on Harry, but like the dream, it was most likely not you... Are there any other things that have happened that seemed odd or strange that you didn't tell me about?"

Harry was thoughtful for a moment before he casted his eyes downwards. "Yes, I have been having similar dreams like the one Mr. Weasley was attacked. One where Voldemort killed a muggle. Then others where I'm in the same house, but just seeing the corridors and stairs"

"Is it just that dream that keeps recurring?" Tonks inquired.

"No" and he shook his head. "I've been dreaming about a corridor, just a corridor and a door. But every time I come close to the door, I wake up, panting and covered in sweat"

"Since when did the dreams start?" Tonks asked "Those of that corridor you keep dreaming off, or the others?"

"Voldemort's resurrection" Harry reluctantly answered.

Tonks huffed "Why haven't you told me before… Never mind. I believe you're seeing those things because you must have a connection with Voldemort. You're going to need to learn to close of your mind." She told him, while she was thinking everything through what she had just learned. "If Voldemort learns of this connection, which may be after last night, he might try and sort through your memories or even worse, try and mislead you or possess you"

"How do you know this for sure?" Harry inquired, surprised about the serious face that Tonks had and the fact that she seemed so certain.

"My time at Hogwarts was lonely in my last year Harry, I was often to be found in the library with my nose into books. I quite liked reading about Occlumency, which is protecting your mind"

Harry nodded "Can you teach me?" he asked her almost desperately. "Will it keep the dreams away?"

"I will and I hope those dreams will stop after you have mastered it. just give me a second" and she stood up and went to her desk, she took out a vial and poured it in her mouth. Then she used her wand to conjure a sofa for the both of them and went to sit down.

When Harry didn't move she said "Come and sit down, you need to be calm to do this and preferably as relaxed as possible"

Harry did as she had told him and also took place in the couch. "What do I need to do?"

Tonks smiled "Remember that first evening we talked?" Harry nodded so she continued "Since you can already project yourself to you own mind, something normally only some Occlumens can do, it should be easier to build you defenses"

Tonks first told him more about Occlumency and the possibilities and advantages, before she explained to him that he had to try and order his mind as much as he could, storing everything of importance behind different doors. She helped him by entering his mind and giving him suggestions, but also just being there from him while he went through his memories. It took them almost nine hours non-stop work to do so and it was an emotionally and physically draining process. On multiple occasions, they had to stop so one of them or the both of them could reign in their emotions again before they could continue with the process. When they were eventually done doing organizing his memories, Tonks helped harry to apply the most basic and general defenses, before they couldn't continue anymore.

Once they had done so, Tonks left his mind again and Harry almost slumped against her in exhaustion. She transferred his head to her lap and conjured a blanket to place it over him. She wasn't surprised that he was that exhausted. The first time she had begun organizing her mind, she had to stop after an hour because of the exhaustion. Harry had just worked on it for nine hours, followed by two hours putting up basic defenses. She was really amazed by his strength and perseverance.

She went with her hand through his hair and was glad to see him sleeping that relaxed. With a motion of her wand, she lifted the wards and spells she had placed and opened the door so it was half-open.

After that, Tonks shifted a little, making sure she didn't do too much so Harry wouldn't wake up, so she was comfortable. It only took her a few minutes to fall asleep.

An hour later, when it was time for dinner, Mrs. Weasley went to fetch everybody. When she entered Tonks' room and saw how both Harry and Tonks were sleeping, she smiled. After everybody was downstairs, she first took two plates aside, put a warming spell on them so she could bring it to them later.

Once dinner was done, she went to bring the plates to Tonks' room and placed them on her desk, not wanting to wake them up, she quietly left the room.

When she crossed Sirius on her way down, she motioned him to follow her to the kitchen.

"Have you seen Harry, Molly? I haven't seen him the entire day" Sirius asked, a frown visible on his face.

Molly nodded "He's with Tonks"

"Do you think he talked to her?" Sirius questioned "I'm worried about him, the state he was in when he arrived"

"I believe so, he looked calm. He was asleep and so was Tonks" Molly explained.

Sirius frowned a bit "How comes you're saying that so calm, that my godson is in a girls room, sleeping? I would have expected a different reaction from you Molly"

"When I looked in Tonks' room, she had left the door half-open. Harry was laying in her lap, sleeping, covered with a blanket, while Tonks was asleep too. They were both fully clothed, so I didn't see a problem. I think she's good for him, he talks to her about things that I don't think he tells Ron or Hermione"

Sirius tried to process that information calmly before he nodded and smiled "Even if there would be something between them, I would trust Tonks with him. She's a good person. She's been helping me keep sane here. She could choose to live at her apartment, but still she stays here"

"Don't you think she's too old for him?" Molly asked, a bit shocked that he had said that, not really having thought about the possibility of Harry and Tonks becoming a couple.

Sirius had a sad look in his face when he answered "She may be physically older, but with everything he has gone through, I believe he might be mentally older than her"

Molly sighted "I'm afraid you're right… That boy has gone through too much already. Do you really think there is something between the two of them?"

"No, not yet anyway. But if you look at the trust they show in each other, I would say it will happen one day, sooner or later. Although I hope they will wait a bit longer before they figure it out, I'm not going to stop them if it happens" Sirius said.

"You surprise me Sirius Black, I had never thought you could have such a serious conversation" Molly told him.

Sirius had to bite back a joke when he answered "I want the best for Harry, even though I can't offer him much because of the situation"

"So what do we do if we notice that something is happening between them?" Molly asked.

"We talk to them, if Harry is still younger than sixteen, we make sure they know the dangers it involves, especially for Tonks. I might have to have the Talk with Harry, since I don't think his uncle gave him one" Sirius said scratching his head.

Molly chuckled "Good luck with that, I still remember every time Arthur came out of his shed with one of our boys, looking even redder than his son after he had given him the talk". She sighted "I hope he'll be alright, even though he's stabilized for the moment"

"Arthur will pull through, you told me the healers said so" Sirius reassured her.

Molly gave him a weak smile "You're right, now come with me, you should really see your godson and cousin, it's really cute"

Silently, they ascended the stairs to the third floor, where Tonks had her room and they peaked in. They both smiled at seeing the two of them so relaxed and carefree. When they were back in the kitchen Sirius said "I think that image is proof enough that they are good for each other, I've never seen Harry so peacefully sleeping in the weeks he's been at Grimmaulds Place"

Molly nodded and the two of them talked some more about Harry and Tonks, but also about Arthur and the rest of the kids. When the evening ended, Molly and Sirius were closer because of their shared love for Harry.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer : I do not own anything of the Harry Potter universe, it all belongs to JK Rowling, I just love writing about the fantastic universe she presented us.**

 **This story is/was posted on my other account, since I had trouble posting a new story on this account. Now that it is all worked out, I'm moving that story here, since that will be easier to manage all of my stories. The story is mostly the same as before, minus some mistakes or typos.**

 **If there are still grammer or spelling mistakes, please let me know. English isn't my native language (plus I have dyslexia), so it is possible that there are still a few mistakes in my stories even though I edit them before I post them. I hope you'll enjoy the story.**

 **The Change - chapter 3**

The next morning, Tonks woke up first and she smiled at the sight of Harry, sleeping with a smile in her lap. It was nice to see him that relaxed, especially if you thought about his last two days. After a few minutes watching him sleep, she looked up and saw the two plates of food on her desk and saw that there was a note lying next to it. She quietly acciod the note and read it.

 _I brought these two plates for the two of you if you two wake up and are hungry._

 _Harry hasn't eaten anything today, so if he wakes up, please make sure he eats it all please._

 _Molly_

Tonks smiled at the kind gesture from Mrs. Weasley and was suddenly very glad she had left her door open the day before. She wouldn't want Mrs. Weasley or anybody else thinking something wrong about the situation.

She gently shook his shoulder, waking him up. When he looked at her in confusion she told him "You fell asleep here yesterday, but we should get up. I can smell breakfast"

When Harry figured out he had slept the entire night in her lap, he bolted upright and he looked horrified and said "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep like that"

"Relax, I didn't wake you up before now, did I? Would I do that if I had minded?" Tonks asked him.

Harry shook his head and then looked at her with a quizzical look "It's the first night I've slept without a dream"

Tonks smiled "Well, I must be you lucky charm then, now we should get up and go and get some breakfast. Especially since you haven't eaten in over a day..."

When Harry got down for breakfast, everybody looked at him, Mrs. Weasley and Sirius smiling, the others a bit confused or worried. Harry ignored this and took place next to Ron.

"How's your dad" Harry asked after a few bites of breakfast.

"He's better" Ron answered "We were able to see him yesterday. We wanted to take you with us, but we couldn't find you"

"Sorry about that, I needed some time to think" Harry told him, which was a half-truth after all.

Ron nodded, but Ginny asked "Are you alright Harry?"

"I'm better than yesterday. I just wished I never had to witness the attack on you father" Harry answered truthfully.

"We are grateful you did though mate, dad might not have made it otherwise" Ron said and clapped him on the back.

Harry just nodded and sneaked a peek to where Tonks was sitting at the other side of the table. He was still surprised that he hadn't had a nightmare that night, but then he thought about the Occlumency Tonks had taught him and shoved it off as a result of that.

After dinner, they went towards St. Mungo's to visit Mr. Weasley, but the moment they were back at Grimmaulds Place, he excused himself and made his way upstairs again.

Tonks, seeing that he would brood again if he was on his own, followed him and when he came on the third floor, she smiled when she saw him entering her room again.

When she entered her room a few moments later, she saw him sitting on the couch.

"You alright?" she asked.

Harry shrugged "I'm not sure. I know it wasn't my fault, but seeing Mr. Weasley made me think back to that vision again, making me relive it again"

Tonks went to sit next to him and took his hands in hers "So then we should make sure that doesn't happen again. I'll give you a good book on Occlumency and one about simple wards, they will help you put up the defenses. You should read them if I'm not around. The other moments, I'll help you with your Occlumency"

"Thank you Tonks, you have no idea what that means to me"

Tonks smiled "I suggest we work on the general defenses a bit more before we start to make it complicated"

Harry nodded before he got a pensive look "Do you think we could find the connection I have with Voldemort in my mind?"

Tonks though for a moment before she answered "Theoretically it should be possible I guess, do you want to try that first?"

"Yes, maybe if we can find it, we can seal it off the best we can or make sure it can't be opened or something like that. Maybe that will prevent the visions" Harry suggested.

"That's a good idea, do you want my help?" Tonks questioned.

Harry just nodded, so Tonks entered his mind again and together they went over every place in Harry's mind until they came to a place that felt colder, even evil. A bit like the effect a dementor had, came upon them. They cautiously walked closer until they saw a black door or better said a portal. Everything that surrounded it felt evil and they decided not to go closer to it.

Tonks left Harry's mind and when she looked at him again, sitting in front of her she saw that he was as white as a sheet.

"That was definitely the connection" Harry told her and started to tremble.

Tonks put her arms around him and comforted him. When he was calm again she told him "We'll make sure it is as shut off as possible from your mind and I promise you I'll look for some way to remove it"

"Why are you helping me this much" Harry asked her. A question he had been thinking of since the day before and couldn't help but posing.

"Because you're my friend and one of the only people who sees me for who I am and not for what I can do"

"Those other people are idiots" Harry murmured, making Tonks laugh out loud.

When she had finally stopped laughing, she said "Come on, we should put up some more defenses before we head for lunch"

Over the next two weeks of the Christmas holiday, Harry spent some of his time with Ron, Hermione, Ginny and the twins, but a lot of his time, he used reading the books Tonks provided him. He had read the two she had given him in a record speed and when he had told Tonks about it, she told him it was since his mind was more organized, it was easier to process and remember information. She had given him more advanced books about Occlumency and Warding and he read them all. They worked on his defenses and by the time that the vacation was almost over, Tonks couldn't enter his mind anymore if Harry tried to stop her.

Those at Grimmaulds Place had seen the change in Harry. He had become more calm and at ease and he looked less troubled. This was all because of the Occlumency he had learned from Tonks. It helped him control his emotions better and the fact they had warded off the connection with Voldemort the best they could also helped reduce the anger he had felt before. On the last days of the vacation, he had even managed something that Tonks had never heard of before. He had made a training room inside his head like the room of requirement. There he was able to practice magic without getting into trouble with the ministry. He had shown Tonks how to do it and she had been able to recreate the room in her head. If Tonks entered with him in his head, she was even able to train in his room and duel with them. Sadly, there hadn't been much time to try this, since the vacation was running on its end and Tonks still had to go to work a lot.

The Saturday before they would go back to Hogwarts, he was called into the kitchen by Sirius. Upon entering, he saw professor Snape sitting at the kitchen table, with Sirius at the other end of the table.

"Good evening professor Snape" Harry said politely and he got an arched eyebrow of his professor back as a reply.

"I'm merely here to inform you that the headmaster has asked me to teach you Occlumency" Snape told him.

"That won't be necessary professor" Harry calmly replied.

"You aren't the judge if something is necessary or not, you arrogant little brat" Snape spat out.

"I'm sorry professor, I should have phrased myself better. It won't be necessary to teach me Occlumency, since I already did"

Snape looked at him in shock and said scornful "Then let's see if you're correct" and before Sirius was able to respond, Snape had pulled his wand and said "Legilimens"

To Snape's surprise, the moment he tried to enter Harry's mind, he was forcefully ejected. Not wanting to give up, Snape again tried to enter Harry's mind, but this time with more force. This time, he grinned because he thought he had succeeded, until he walked in a trap and started falling and falling without an end. Eventually Harry just ejected him from his mind again.

"You see professor, I have been busy during this holiday, since I didn't want my mind to be vulnerable for Voldemort. The second time I only let you enter my mind to guide you into my trap" Harry told Snape.

Snape just snarled, got up and disappeared in the fireplace.

Sirius just sat there, shell shocked about what he had seen just moments before. Harry smiled when he saw his godfather sitting there. Clapping him on the back he enquired "Are you alright Padfoot?"

"How did you learn Occlumency?" Sirius asked.

"You would think you could figure that one out" Harry said "What person in this house knows Occlumency and has been spending a lot of time with me?"

Sirius smacked himself on the head "Tonks, I should have known. She taught you?"

"We started the day after Mr. Weasley got attacked. I've been reading books about it and I should thank you and your library, since it also has a few interesting books that I was able to use" Harry told him.

"I really should thank that cousin of mine" Sirius muttered.

"Why do you need to thank me?" Tonks asked, just arriving or better said falling through the floo.

"For teaching my godson Occlumency, he just managed to block two attacks from Snivellus" Sirius answered.

Tonks engulfed Harry in a hug "Good job, I wished I could have seen his face"

"You just have to ask if you want to see" Harry told her.

Tonks nodded and a second later, she was in Harry's mind again, where he led her to the memory. A few minutes later, Tonks had left his mind again and was having trouble to stay upright from laughing so hard.

"What just happened?" Sirius asked.

"I just showed her my memory" Harry told him, but when he saw his godfather still looking confused "She performed Legilimency on me, since she helped me training, she has improved quite a lot with it and doesn't need her wand anymore to enter my mind"

Sirius could have slapped himself on the head again "Sorry, I think I'm still shocked from what happened with Snivellus. You know that he's one of the best Legilimens and Occlumens, except Voldemort and Albus"

"I was trained by the best and was very motivated, now if you will excuse me, I was in the middle of a conversation when I had to come down here for Snape" he said towards Sirius "And I'll see you later" towards Tonks.

When Harry had left to kitchen, Sirius motioned Tonks to sit down and said "Thank you, I don't think Snape would have been able to teach him Occlumency with his grudge for Harry, so I'm really grateful you took the time to teach him"

"It was my pleasure Sirius, I like spending time with Harry, so it wasn't really a task for me" Tonks answered with a smile.

"You've become close to Harry I've noticed"

"He's a good person, I can talk to him, he can talk to me. He's the first person like that" she defended herself.

"I know you mean well Tonks, so don't think I'm attacking you" He told her earnestly. "But I can't help myself from asking how you feel about my godson?"

Tonks looked at Sirius and sighted "Honestly, I don't know. I feel safe and good around him. He can calm me down and make me laugh. He's not a boy, but I also realize that he's not a man yet either. I trust him, which is saying a lot…"

"I don't think Harry knows either Tonks, but it is clear that there is something between you two more than friendship" Sirius pointed out.

"That's one thing I had realized already, but I don't know what I should do…"

"Just continue like you are doing, be his friend and see where it leads you to. Just promise me to be careful until he is sixteen, if something would happen between you two, I don't want any of you two seen hurt" Sirius told her and a memory from Azkaban crept back into his mind.

"Thanks Siri, I just wished everything would be easier" Tonks admitted "And that I would know how I felt, but I think I'm guarding myself until he's older"

"I think that isn't a bad idea and a good friend is also something Harry can use and I think you too" he told her with a smile.

When Tonks had left the kitchen, Sirius thought 'That was the easy conversation, now I just have to have a conversation with Harry'

A bit reluctant, he got up and went upstairs to retrieve Harry. Harry looked at him strangely, but followed his godfather anyway. They went to the sitting room and Sirius cast some wards so nobody would interrupt them, since he knew it would just embarrass them both.

"You probably have no idea what I want to talk to you about? Do you?"

"Not really Sirius, but it must be important if you've put up wards" Harry deduced. "And you seem rather serious, something I haven't seen that often with you"

"It's definitely important, but it's mostly so we won't be disturbed. I want to ask you something first" Sirius said with a grin "How has Hogwarts been this semester?"

Harry smiled and told his godfather everything about the DA, but also some parts about Umbridge.

"So nobody that you're interested in?" Sirius fished.

Harry shrugged "There's a girl, Cho Chang that's been trying to get me alone. I know she's interested in me, but I'm not and she was Cedric's girlfriend, so that would just be wrong"

"So there is nobody that attracts your attention?"

Harry hesitated a moment before he answered "No"

"Alright, even though you're not interested in someone, doesn't mean you will get out of this talk" Sirius started "I want to talk to you about relationships and everything that comes with it"

Harry immediately started blushing when he realized what kind of talk it would be. The next hour and a half, Sirius explained him everything and answered the questions Harry had. In the end, Harry was still blushing, but he thanked his godfather for the information.

When Harry stood up to leave the sitting room, Sirius said "I'm proud of you Harry, for everything you've done so far. It shows that you're already very mature. Your parents would be proud too"

Harry smiled and hugged his godfather "Thank you Sirius"

Before Harry could go to sleep that evening, Tonks called him into her room.

"I wanted to say goodbye, since I'm leaving on a mission tomorrow, I won't be able to see you off" Tonks told him after they were seated in the sofa.

Harry smiled "Thank you for all your help this vacation, I would have been submitted to Snape's Occlumency lessons if it hadn't been for you"

"I'm glad you won't get those… There's also another reason I called you in here. I've managed to get my hands on a sort of spying devise. It's so we can catch Umbridge if the time poses itself. You would just have to carry it with you during one of those awful detentions" and she handed him a little object.

"Thank you. I hope I don't have to use it, but I'm afraid I'll have too" Harry sighted.

Tonks didn't want that more than Harry "I wished there was more I could do for you"

"You're already doing more than I could expect of you Tonks. We have to catch her with proof, otherwise, she will just deny everything and the treatment wouldn't improve" Harry said. "I also have the bad luck the ministry isn't really on my side"

"I know... I have a bad feeling about you going back to Hogwarts Harry" Tonks confessed.

Harry sighted, but pointed out "So do I, but I have to, I don't have any other choice"

Tonks thought for a moment before she went to her drawer and got out a pendant. She duplicated it and then put some spells on them. "I've charmed them, if something is wrong, you have to hold it with both of your hands, I'll know something is wrong and try to come"

Harry nodded "Does the same apply for your pendant"

"Yes, I'll let you know with it if something happens, but don't come, I'll try to contact you as fast as I can" Tonks instructed him.

Harry wanted to disagree but couldn't "I promise Tonks"

"Thank you, I don't want you to get into trouble for me, or into more trouble"

"I would, if that could help you" Harry admitted.

"I know, that's why I'm insisting you don't" Tonks smiled "I know how you are Harry"

"That's not hard, you know more about me than anybody else" Harry pointed out.

"That's true. I have one last gift before you leave for Hogwarts, but you must take good care of them" Tonks told him, while she went to the bookshelves and got out some books "These are my auror books, I normally can't lend or give them to somebody else, so don't show them to anybody else, I've charmed them so they look like normal textbooks from Hogwarts"

"Don't you need them?" Harry questioned.

"No, I've had my tests, so I shouldn't need them anymore. I think you can learn a lot from them. So promise me you'll try to read them?"

"I will, I was planning on focusing even more on my classes and studying than I had the previous semester" Harry told her.

"And training a bunch of students under the eye of an evil witch, literally and figurative speaking"

"Alright, I'll admit to that. But I'm planning on using my time at Hogwarts to learn as much as I can. Definitely since it's easier now to study and learn, thanks to you"

"You've always had a lot of potential Harry. Don't hold back anymore and try to live up to it and don't let yourself being set back by others"

Harry nodded "I will miss you at Hogwarts"

"I'll miss you too Harry" and she engulfed him in a hug. Before Harry turned to leave her room, she kissed his cheek "Good night Harry"

"Good night Tonks" Harry replied and left her room, his arms full with books, but with a soft smile on his face.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer : I do not own anything of the Harry Potter universe, it all belongs to JK Rowling, I just love writing about the fantastic universe she presented us.**

 **This story is/was posted on my other account, since I had trouble posting a new story on this account. Now that it is all worked out, I'm moving that story here, since that will be easier to manage all of my stories. The story is mostly the same as before, minus some mistakes or typos.**

 **If there are still grammer or spelling mistakes, please let me know. English isn't my native language (plus I have dyslexia), so it is possible that there are still a few mistakes in my stories even though I edit them before I post them. I hope you'll enjoy the story.**

 **Plus, sorry for the late update, but life caught up with me, making it difficult to find the time to write.**

 **The Change - chapter 4**

The next day, Sunday, they found themselves on the Hogwarts Express again. Both Harry and Hermione were with their noses in books, while Ron tried to convince them to play some exploding snap.

"Sorry Ron, I know you aren't such a fan of studying, but I'm trying to prepare for OWL's and I want to be as prepared as possible if I have to face Voldemort" Harry explained.

Ron gave his usual shudder at hearing the name "You've changed through the holidays Harry"

"I know, seeing that attack on your father changed me Ron, it made me really realize that I have to prepare as much as I can and making sure I'm ready for the OWL's and more, since it is clear that Voldemort is after me" Harry replied.

"I for one like the change Harry, it was about time you took your studies more seriously" Hermione told them, looking up from her book for a few moments.

"I understand Harry" Ron told him "I just really can't focus on books that well"

Harry rummaged through his trunk and got out a book and handed it to Ron "I saw this book in Sirius' library, I thought you might like this one"

"Strategic ploys in history?" Ron read.

"Just try it" Harry urged him.

Ron decided to give it a go and before they knew it, the three of them were reading their book. They didn't even notice Neville entering until he spoke "What happened here?"

Harry looked at him in surprise "What do you mean Neville?"

"I never thought I would see the three of you reading a book on the Hogwarts Express, especially not you Ron, no offense. I would almost think that it isn't really you three, but polyjuiced "

"No problem mate, but this is a really interesting book. It discusses different techniques they used to win previous wars" Ron explained.

When Neville looked at Harry he told him "I decided to take my studies a bit more serious, if Voldemort comes after me, I want to be prepared"

Neville nodded "Do you mind if I join you? I got a new book from for Christmas from my gran about Herbology in Africa"

Harry motioned for him to sit and then went back to one of the auror books Tonks had given him. It was a book on curses and he couldn't wait to try them out. If he hadn't been in company he would have slipped inside his own mind to do so, but it would have been a bit too obvious and strange to do so.

The lunch cart passed by and they bought some sweets, but for the rest, the only sound that was audible was the one of the turning pages of the books they were reading.

Most of the next few months after the Christmas break developed quite the same like in the Hogwarts Express. Harry had read Tonks' books by the end of January and had practiced a lot of the things described in the Room of Requirement and in his head using Occlumency. He had started reading through the class material for most of his courses and found that he was competing with Hermione to answer during classes, much to the amazement of his professors and peers.

Hermione however liked the friendly competition with Harry that had developed in class, apart from Umbridge's classes of course. During those classes, Harry and his friends stayed as silent as possible, even then managing to get detentions with Umbitch.

After February, Harry started to focus on the sixth year course load, while also seeking other interesting books about Occlumency to strengthen his defenses even more or about Dueling. Since he had processed the entire course load of his fifth year, together with revising his years before.

He still led the DA and taught them everything they could use in a fight, so that their chances of living improved if they should be attacked. The number of students participating had also increased in comparison with before the break. Because of the increasing disappearances, the break out from Azkaban and killings all over the country. More and more people started to believe that Dumbledore and Harry weren't lying, but of course, the more people believed him, the harsher Umbridge became towards Harry.

Harry had already been able to sample the evidence against her in January, but sadly there wasn't a secure way to send it to Tonks and his plan to give it to Tonks on a Hogsmeade weekend in February was disrupted since he was doing detention again, this time joined by quite a few of his closest friends. That had as a result that Harry couldn't even give the recording devise with someone he trusted to pass it on to Tonks.

Umbridge also knew that something was going on in the school and that Harry was in the middle of it, so her Inquisitorial Squad tried to follow him around. But he still managed to give the weekly DA meetings right under her nose, thanks to the aid of his invisibility cloak.

Sadly, at the ending of March, Umbridge had started to interrogate random students, in the hopes of getting knowledge of 'illegal' activities at Hogwarts. Cho Chang's friend Marietta Edgecombe had sold them out, which was clear by pustules that had formed on her head forming the word SNEAK. As a result Dumbledore had to leave Hogwarts so he wouldn't get arrested and every DA student got multiple detentions with the blood quill.

In the beginning of April, Harry and his friends waited in line to go to Hogsmeade that day, a privilege that strangely enough hadn't been revoked after the DA was uncovered.

"Where do you want to start" Hermione asked Harry, while walking the last part to the town.

"Let's get our supply of sweets and then parchment and ink. I have a meeting at eleven that I have to be at" Harry told her.

"Who are you meeting?" Ron asked.

"Tonks, I have something she wants, something that might help us with Umbridge" Harry explained.

So they started to replenish their supply of chocolate frogs and other sweets, before making sure they had enough parchment and ink for the rest of the year.

They were just on their way to the Three Broomstick, when all hell broke loose. Harry, Ron and Hermione were stunned from behind and dragged into an alley. There, they were portkeyed out of Hogsmeade and into the ministry.

When they were rennervated again, they were surprised that they still had their wands. So after realizing they were in serious trouble and before Harry did anything else, he held the pendant he had gotten from Tonks with both of his hands, hoping she would be warned. Then when their attackers weren't paying attention, Harry, Ron and Hermione started firing spells at them.

In the surprise, they had managed to stun one of the death eaters, but there were still two left that started to throw curses back. Neither group had the upper hand, until one of the death eaters managed to revive their companion. With three against three, the trio was pushed back by the death eaters.

"Bombarda" Hermione fired at the ceiling, making it come down on the three death eaters.

Taking advantage of the situation, the ran as fast as they could until they were presented with multiple doors. Quickly deciding to take on of them, they ran into a circular room, with an ancient doorway in the middle. They were only there for a few seconds catching their breath, when the three death eaters also showed up, only now they were accompanied by four other death eaters, including Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy.

"So we meet again" Lucius sneered, trying to look as haughtily as he could.

"What do you want" Harry yelled, not understanding what the point was for bringing them there.

"We want you to retrieve something for the Dark Lord, if you don't, you and those two pathetic friends of yours are going to die" Lucius merely stated.

"Why would you need me?"

"Ah, you don't know about this apparently. There is a prophecy about you and the Dark Lord and we want to have it. Sadly only those concerning the prophecy can pick it up, that is why we need you"

"Don't waste time, I want to get out of here" Bellatrix sneered towards Lucius.

"Of course, now Potter, come here, or you friends won't have much of their lives left"

Harry's mind was reeling. He knew either way, they would be dead, no matter what he did. He just wanted to defy him, when a noise brought him out of his thoughts. Tonks, Dumbledore, Kingsley, Remus, Hestia Jones and Sirius appeared at the other side of the room. Immediately spell fire broke loose in the room.

Harry dove immediately, since a curse from Lucius Malfoy came his way. Sending back a cutting curse in return, Harry started to duel with the man. He was starting to loose and had already incorporated a few spells, making his body hurt like hell, when Sirius came to the rescue. Together they managed to overpower Lucius until he was smacked against a wall and his motionless body lay on the ground.

"Nice one Harry" Sirius complemented him before a purple jet flew from Bellatrix' wand, in his chest and he toppled backwards into the veil that spanned the ancient doorway. Sirius' body disappeared immediately and Harry wanted to jump after him when he was held back. Remus held his body as Harry tried to get away from him.

"He's gone Harry, there's nothing you can do" Remus said, his voice thick with emotions.

Harry stopped fighting him until he saw Bellatrix slipping away, while the rest of the death eaters were being rounded up. Since Remus hadn't expected him to try and break away in that direction, Harry managed to do so and ran after Bellatrix. He followed her to the atrium, where she was trying to leave.

"Stupefy" he yelled at her, which caught her attention.

"So you're going to try and fight me" Bellatrix taunted him "There's nothing you can do to stop me, just like there is nothing you could do to safe that pathetic godfather of yours"

"Impedamente" Harry yelled at her.

A bit surprised, Bellatrix only barely managed to step away from the curse.

"So you think you can play with the adults" she asked before she pointed her wand at him and yelled "Crucio"

The pain that shot through Harry's body was excruciating. There was nothing he could do but yell and convulse, hoping the pain would stop, until the pain even worsened and his head almost exploded from the pain.

"Stop" Harry heard the command. He felt the pain fall away and looked up, only to see Voldemort a few meters away from him.

"So we meet again Harry Potter" his high pitched voice said, looking down on Harry.

"Tom" Harry spat out "I didn't expect you here"

A high maniacal roar came out of Voldemort's mouth "Don't call me that, my name is Voldemort"

"No that is just a self-appointed name which sounds ridiculous if you ask me"

"Crucio" Voldemort roared and again, Harry felt the excruciating pain, only worse this time.

Voldemort put him under the cruciatus curse for three long times until he passed out, his body not being able to cope with the physical and emotional pain anymore.

Luckily it had been at that moment that Dumbledore appeared and immediately sent a curse towards Voldemort, making him chose between attacking Harry or defending himself. Choosing the latter, Voldemort sent back a volley of spells towards his nemesis.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer : I do not own anything of the Harry Potter universe, it all belongs to JK Rowling, I just love writing about the fantastic universe she presented us.**

 **This story is/was posted on my other account, since I had trouble posting a new story on this account. Now that it is all worked out, I'm moving that story here, since that will be easier to manage all of my stories. The story is mostly the same as before, minus some mistakes or typos.**

 **If there are still grammer or spelling mistakes, please let me know. English isn't my native language (plus I have dyslexia), so it is possible that there are still a few mistakes in my stories even though I edit them before I post them. I hope you'll enjoy the story.**

 **I know that it has been a very long while since I updated and I really have no excuses apart from doing my internship and thesis... I hope I'll be able to update quicker next time, but know that I'm not abandoning this story (or Taking control...)**

 **The Change - chapter 5**

Three days later, Harry woke up in the familiar surroundings of the hospital wing. He tried to sit up, but his body was hurting too much to even move his arm.

"Mr. Potter, I see you're awake" Madam Pomfrey said.

"Glasses" Harry managed to make out, his voice hoarse from the screaming whilst under the torture curse and not using it for the last three days.

Madam Pomfrey gently put his glasses on his nose. "How are you feeling Mr. Potter?"

"Horrible" Harry croaked, clearly having trouble to just say that.

"That's to be expected, from my calculations you were held under the cruciatus curse multiple times for an extended period. That on top of your other injuries caused you to be unconscious for three days" Madam Pomfrey told them.

"Three days, what happened" Harry asked, not really caring that his voice hurt, he just wanted answers at that point.

"I believe it would be best if I answered that question" a voice that was without a doubt from Albus Dumbledore said.

Madam Pomfrey did a last check before she left the headmaster with Harry. She didn't want to leave her patient alone, especially with how weak he still was, but she knew Albus had to speak to him.

Dumbledore performed some privacy spells, but when Harry saw the sad look on Dumbledore's face he said "Sirius didn't make it, didn't he?"

"No, I'm afraid he did not. We weren't even able to retrieve a body since he fell through the veil. I'm sorry Harry" Dumbledore told him.

Harry blinked away a few tears "How are the others?"

"Most of them had multiple injuries, but they will all be fine. Ron and Hermione only got cuts and scrapes and left the hospital wing the same day. Hestia had to regrow a bone that was shattered, but she's also home again. Tonks is still here at the infirmary, but she will be alright, she just has to rest" Dumbledore explained to him.

Harry nodded "What happened?"

Dumbledore sighted "I'm afraid I'll have to go back to the very beginning. A few months before you were born, a prophecy was made to me that goes as followed _'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… And either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives… The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…'_ "

Harry was quiet for a moment "That suggests that I have to kill Voldemort or he'll kill me?"

"I'm afraid so. I personally don't give much credence to prophecies, but this one became self-fulfilling since a servant of Voldemort heard the first part of the prophecy, saying that a child with the power to defeat his Lord would be born as the seventh month died. Originally, the prophecy fit two children, you and Neville Longbottom, but he went after you and your parents and marked you as his equal with the scar you have. Voldemort believes the prophecy, which is why he will keep coming after you, that is why it is self-fulfilling. Your mother sacrificed herself so you could live, which is why Voldemort couldn't touch you. Using the power of that sacrifice, I managed to set up blood wards around your relatives' house, since Petunia is your mother's sister. As long as you call that place your home, the blood wards will protect you, that is also the reason you always have to go back in the summers"

Harry had to let that sink in before he questioned "What happened at the ministry?"

"Voldemort had sent some of his death eaters after you, to catch you and your friends and bring them to the ministry, so you would retrieve the prophecy for him. You sending that signal to Tonks, warned us and gave us a location, since there was also a locator spell on it. We managed to capture all the death eaters, except one I'm afraid"

"Bellatrix" Harry spat angrily "I'll get her for what she's done to Sirius"

Dumbledore laid his hand on Harry's shoulder "Try not to let you anger consume you. Use what you've learned about Occlumency to push those emotions away since it will not do you any good to dwell in them. They will ruin your life"

Harry knew that what Dumbledore was telling him was true, so he closed his eyes and focused on getting his emotions controlled again. It was hard for a moment, to push back the anger, but eventually he managed to do so.

Dumbledore was surprised by the amount of control Harry had, but decided not to comment on it and to continue "At the ministry, Voldemort came because one of his death eaters managed to call for him before they were incapacitated. He showed up in the atrium, like you probably know and put you under the cruciatus curse. I entered the atrium the moment you passed out and started dueling him. In that time, ministry officials had arrived and Bellatrix fled. Voldemort did so too, but not before he tried to possess you. Unfortunately for him, you managed to keep him out and judging from his screaming, he got injured in trying to do so"

Harry processed everything in his mind "What happens now? How comes you're back at Hogwarts?"

"Ah, I have to partially thank you for that" Dumbledore told him. "but the other part is that Fudge was one of the ministry officials that arrived in the atrium and he saw Voldemort with his own eyes so he couldn't deny his return anymore. That plus a devise that was conveniently found in your pocket that incriminated Dolores Umbridge, resulted in the vote of no confidence towards Fudge, the arrest of Umbridge and the reinstatement of myself"

Harry nodded again. It was all very much to take in. The loss of his godfather, the prophesy and that he had faced Voldemort again. The fact that the plan to oust Umbridge had worked didn't even register, since Harry's mind was too occupied with other things. "If you don't mind headmaster, I would prefer to be alone now to process everything that has happened"

"Of course, if you need anything, feel free to ask" Dumbledore expressed, no twinkle visible in his eyes, before he left the infirmary.

Harry laid there for a few minutes, thinking about what Dumbledore had just told him and organizing his mind to be able to process everything better. He was so busy doing so, he didn't notice Madam Pomfrey trying to get his attention until her third attempt.

When she saw that she had his attention she asked "Everything alright Mr. Potter?"

"Yes, I'm sorry Madam Pomfrey, what I just heard was a lot to take in, so I was busy organizing my mind" Harry explained, looking rather sheepishly since the matron had looked quite freaked out.

A sad look appeared on her face for a moment, before she said "I've brought you your potions and some food. I'm sorry to say that you're in no state to feed yourself, so I'm going to have to help you"

Harry tried to move his arm, but noticed the exhaustion in his limb immediately, so he just agreed and let Madam Pomfrey spoon feed him. After his meal, she helped him take his potions, which made him feel a bit better.

"Thank you for the help" he told her and his voice felt better at that part, probably because of the potions he had just taken, even though they tasted vile.

Madam Pomfrey looked at him strangely and said "I'm surprised you didn't fight me"

"Honestly, I wanted to, but I can't even make myself to move my arm. I thought that that was a good sign that I should try, so I didn't bother fighting you" Harry replied.

The matron smiled warmly at him "I'm glad you didn't, now is there something else I can do for you Mr. Potter"

"Can I see Tonks" Harry asked her hopefully. In the months before, she had been his rock during the turbulent times at Hogwarts, but also at Headquarters. He was worried for her after the events at the ministry, even though the headmaster had assured him she was alright.

Madam Pomfrey disappeared for a moment, but when she came back she said "I'll bring you to her, if you stay in your bed"

"It's not like I can get out of bed" Harry grumbled halfheartedly.

Madam Pomfrey just ignored him and removed the curtains on his right side, revealing Tonks with dull brown/grey hair laying in a bed a bit further. Tonks smiled at him sadly, while Madam Pomfrey rolled her bed towards Harry's.

"I'll leave you alone now, but if I see one of you trying to get out of bed, I'll put a sticking charm on both of you" Madam Pomfrey warned them.

After Madam Pomfrey had left, it was quiet for a few minutes until Tonks said, with tears in her eyes "I'm sorry Harry, it's all my fault"

Confused, Harry asked her "What is your fault? I would say everything is my fault, I let them capture me. You got hurt and Sirius…"

"I was fighting Bellatrix Harry, before she shot that spell at Sirius. I couldn't beat her…"

"Tonks, you did everything you could to help, hell you even got hurt because of it, so don't put it in your mind that it is your fault, please" he begged her. He couldn't handle it that she felt guilty, while she had done everything she could.

"If I'm not at fault, then you definitely aren't either Harry. Ron and Hermione told me how you were attacked from behind and then brought to the ministry with a portkey. Then you managed to stall them long enough for us to arrive. If you hadn't you and Ron and Hermione wouldn't be here anymore" Tonks pointed out eventually , knowing that he was right and she also didn't want Harry to get too upset after just waking up.

Harry couldn't find any error in her logic, so he couldn't do anything else than to agree with her. It was hard however to reprogram his mind so that it knew that Sirius' death wasn't his fault.

"I just wished I could have done something" Harry told her after a while.

"I know Harry, so do I" Tonks agreed, but Harry could observe that her hair had gotten a slightly purple tone again, so he guessed that he had managed to relieve some of the guilt from her.

"What happened to you that you're still here?" Harry asked her.

"Bellatrix happened" Tonks first said before she clarified "While I fought her, she hit me with a few spells, which did a little damage. I was able to do the same with her, before she caught me with a blasting spell. I was knocked against the wall and barely conscious when she placed me under the cruciatus curse a few times, that was until she saw Sirius unguarded"

"I'm sorry Tonks, that you had to go through that" Harry told her. "I know her cruciatus curses are par with those of Voldemort"

"What do you mean? How do you know that" Tonks asked him, already dreading the answer.

"I tried to follow Bellatrix after Sirius... She managed to disarm me and put me under the spell. Voldemort is the main reason I'm here though. He put me under it a few more times before the headmaster managed to get him to stop. I don't remember much of it though, I passed out after his third and then after fighting Voldemort, he tried to possess me but wasn't able because of the defenses I put up"

Tonks reached out towards Harry's hand and managed to grab it with her own. She rubbed circled on it with her thumb, not knowing what to tell him.

Harry relaxed a bit by the motions she made with her thumb. Looking at her and seeing her observe him, Harry decided to tell her what Dumbledore had told him earlier that day.

"Are you able to put up some wards?" Harry asked her.

"I thinks so" Tonks said and she grabbed with her other hand her wand from under her pillow and started casting them.

When Harry was sure nobody would be able to overhear them he started to tell her everything Dumbledore had told him. When he was finished, Tonks was silent, but still held his hand.

After a few minutes, Harry broke the silence again and asked "Everything alright?"

Snapped out of her thoughts, Tonks turned her head again towards Harry and said "Yes, sorry, I was thinking about everything you told me. I don't really know where to start or what to say"

"I know what you mean" Harry replied, still having trouble to process it all.

Tonks nodded "About those blood wards, I would suggest you let them be inspected. If they are really there, then we have to think about what you'll do"

"Sorry, I can't follow" Harry told her.

"I told you in August I would do everything I could to prevent you from going back to your relatives right? Before we make a plan, we have to know more about these blood wards that Dumbledore constructed. I know that isn't really on your mind for the moment, but I won't let those bastards do anything else to you, especially not now" Tonks clarified.

Harry had trouble blinking away the tears that had formed in his eyes. "Thank you Tonks"

She squeezed his hand as a reply and after taking down the wards they just stayed there, laying hand in hand, until Madam Pomfrey came in to check on them.

Seeing them she said "If you want, I'll change you to the bed next to Mr. Potter, Ms. Tonks"

Startled at first, Tonks responded "That would be nice, thank you"

"It's time for dinner" she told them and she placed a tray before the both of them. Looking at Harry she said "I'm sorry but I will again have to help you eat"

"She had to help me too until this morning" Tonks told him, squeezing his hand again before she let go.

"Go ahead" he told Madam Pomfrey.

"You're having a positive influence on him Ms. Tonks, who would have thought" Madam Pomfrey said towards Tonks with a barely noticeable wink.

She helped Harry with his food and his potions, and only minutes after his meal, Harry fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer : I do not own anything of the Harry Potter universe, it all belongs to JK Rowling, I just love writing about the fantastic universe she presented us.**

 **This story is/was posted on my other account, since I had trouble posting a new story on this account. Now that it is all worked out, I'm moving that story here, since that will be easier to manage all of my stories. The story is mostly the same as before, minus some mistakes or typos.**

 **If there are still grammar or spelling mistakes, please let me know. English isn't my native language (plus I have dyslexia), so it is possible that there are still a few mistakes in my stories even though I edit them before I post them. I hope you'll enjoy the story.**

 **The Change - chapter 6**

Four days later, the Easter Holiday had started and Tonks and Harry were still in the infirmary. They had made a lot of progress physically and were able to sit in a chair as a change from only being able to lay in a bed. They were also able to eat on their own again and go to the toilet without assistance.

"Can you help me with something?" Harry asked Tonks, after looking up from the book he was reading.

Tonks was a little bit startled, as she had also been rereading a book from her auror training. She often like to reread a book to make sure she remembered everything that was important. "Of course" she quickly answered, as she knew that Harry wasn't one to ask for help that quickly.

"I would like to plan a little memorial for Sirius, I want to say goodbye in a proper way" Harry explained, a pained look on his face. It hurt to think about Sirius and how he had lost him, but he knew that Sirius would want him to keep on going. To do so, Harry wanted to make sure that he could say goodbye properly and to honor the life of his godfather.

"That's a good idea Harry, do you have something in mind?" Tonks questioned, liking the idea. It could give some closure to those who had been close to Sirius, herself included.

Harry nodded "There was something I did in primary school that I hope to recreate, to make lanterns and put them in the air"

"You mean such paper things with a candle in them?" Tonks asked, remembering she had seen such things once. Her father had taken herself and her mother on an outing to the Chinese neighborhood in London. They were celebrating their new year and paper lanterns were going up in the air.

"Yes, I just thought, since we can't burry him, we could say goodbye like that" Harry told her, fiddling a little with his sheets.

"When do you want to do this?"

"As soon as the both of us are able to stand up right for a few minutes" Harry grinned.

Tonks thought "Let's say Friday evening then? Still enough days to recover and prepare"

"Alright, we should contact professor Dumbledore to invite the Order and then Hermione and Ron. That should be everyone" Harry summed up, thinking about the people that meant something to his godfather, as he didn't want a public service, where most of the people didn't really know Sirius.

"Could I invite my parents?" Tonks asked. Her mother had kept in contact with Sirius, especially after he was disinherited by his parents. They were both the black sheep of the Black family. Tonks could even remember Sirius a little from when she was little. He would always play small pranks for her, to make her laugh.

Harry actually felt bad that he hadn't thought about them. He knew that Sirius was Tonks' cousin, so that meant Tonks' parents must have known Sirius as well. "Of course, they are family, sorry I didn't thought about them" he quickly rectified.

"Thanks and no problem, it's not like my family broadcast their connection with the Black family. If we ask Hermione when she comes by, she might be able to search a spell to make the lanterns" Tonks suggested, wanting to steer the conversation towards other topic.

"Good idea" Harry said with a smile and he was relieved that Tonks actually liked his idea. The fact that they were looking into a memorial service for Sirius already made him feel lighter. .

"Now you should study some more" Tonks told him with a wink.

"You do know I'm already past the OWL material" Harry repeated the argument he had used a few times with Tonks.

Tonks smiled "I know, but you should learn in advance, might come in handy"

Harry grinned "I already surpassed Hermione with the subject material and I've done multiple extra reading on certain subjects. If I continue like this I should be able to pass my NEWT's instead of my OWL in June"

"Exactly" Tonks simply stated, grinning from ear to ear, her hair even going through green and orange before settling back to her bubblegum pink.

This confused Harry a little, as he had no idea what Tonks was saying or what she meant."What do you mean?"

"I've been researching, there are a few possibilities for you so that you don't have to go back to your relatives. One is if you were emancipated, but you can only apply the moment you're sixteen, which means you would have to go back to your relatives for a month. I think we can both agree that that isn't a nice idea. Another would be to wait for Sirius' will to be read and hope he emancipated you, but that one only comes out three months after his death since they don't have a body, that would mean the second of July, but we don't know what is in his will. The third option is a law that those who are successful in getting at least four NEWT's are emancipated, no matter what age they have, with at least two exceeds expectations" Tonks informed him.

"So to be emancipated and not go back to the Dursleys, my best shot could be passing NEWT's?" Harry asked.

"I think so, I also think you should be able to make it. You will need a recommendation from one of you professors to make your NEWT's" Said Tonks, remembering all the information she had found when she was researching to option for Harry to not have to return to the Dursleys.

Harry had to think for a while. He was almost at the end of the sixth year program, so with some effort, he might be able to pass his NEWT's. "I'll try" Harry eventually answered.

"Great, I'll help if you want, I have leave of the ministry until the end of June"

Harry smiled "Well, Madam Pomfrey already told me I couldn't play quidditch for the rest of the year, even though Umbridge is gone and thus hopefully her ban for me to play quidditch. So I'll still have enough time and we might get a good defense professor, so then I won't have to continue the DA"

"I hope I'll be adequate" Tonks answered him with a wink. "But I can't be worse than Umbridge I guess"

"You're not kidding me?"

"No, because of my injuries, I have to rest and can't do active duty for a while, so Dumbledore asked me to take over the post for that time being. It will give me the advantage of being close so I can help you with your studying" Tonks pointed out.

"I'm almost looking forward to it, the year can only improve with everything that has happened" and a sad look appeared on his face, thinking about the horrible treatment he had gotten from the pink toad, but mostly about the fact that Sirius had died.

"You're right, now get studying again. I know you've already done all the Defense material and more, so focus on the others"

Harry nodded and took out the textbook for Charms in sixth year. When he was done reading a chapter, he disappeared in his mind practicing the spell he had just read about. Tonks looked at him in fascination for a little while before she reached for her book as well.

In the five days before he memorial, Harry finished the sixth and seventh year Charms theoretical material as well as that of Transfiguration book. He had already skimmed those books in the past, so it wasn't all new information to him. Since he was acquainted with the theoretical side of those subjects, he only had to practice some more before he felt ready to do the NEWT. He had even practiced most of the spells while lying in the infirmary, with Tonks correcting him.

"Alright now we'll start with Transfiguration, do you know when Ron and Hermione are coming?" Tonks asked on Thursday.

"They should be here in ten minutes" Harry answered bit confused.

"Perfect, gives you time to do some conjurations. So give me a teapot" she told him.

Harry thought for a moment, before he conjured a teapot non-verbally that looked like an elephant, that automatically poured tea.

"That looks great, how did you do it so detailed?" Tonks asked.

"I have a lot of imagination, it helped with the Dursleys" Harry replied, thinking back to how his imagination helped him to ignore the pain he was in from the injuries he had gotten in their 'care'.

Tonks merely nodded, knowing partially what he meant and not wanting to delve in those difficult subjects. "Now vanish the teapot"

With a flick of his wand, the teapot had disappeared. And with another one he had conjured another one, a simpler one with a flowery print and then he conjured two teacups and some tea. "I thought it would be nice to have some tea while practicing"

"Do you think you're able to conjure an entire tea tray at once?" questioned Tonks.

Harry thought for a moment before he started to make an even more complicated pattern with his wand and a tea tray appeared with teapot, teacups, a creamer for the milk and even a sugar bowl.

"Nicely done, now vanish it and conjure me a chair" Tonks instructed.

"Alright" he vanished the tea tray and instead started to conjure some chairs. He started with a simple chair but then started to conjure other chairs that had a lot of detail and that were all differently shaped.

"You really are a show off aren't you?" Tonks teased.

Harry shrugged "Sorry"

"Don't apologize, if you show this level of aptitude at conjuration, you should at least get an Exceeds Expectations"

Harry smiled and started vanishing the chairs, with some help from Tonks. They were just done when Ron and Hermione entered.

"Hey mate, how are you doing?" Ron asked.

"Better and better" Harry answered "Madam Pomfrey even let me go to the bathroom on my own, with the walking stick of course"

"How are you doing Tonks?" Hermione questioned.

"I'm also doing better, I'm just getting tired of the infirmary, but I'm partially lucky that Harry's here as well. Would you mind helping him for a while?"

"Sure, what can we do?" Hermione said.

"Just take a chair and sit down" Harry said with a little smirk visible, while he conjured two chairs for them.

Hermione was looking at him with astonishment, but both she and Ron took a seat.

"I'm going to practice some Human Transfiguration on you if you don't mind, it should just tickle and if something goes wrong, then Tonks can help you out" Harry explained.

"I trust you mate, go ahead" Ron told him.

Harry nodded and Tonks instructed "Why don't you make from Hermione a blond girl with blue eyes and change her skin tone a bit too"

Harry took a deep breath and started with the changes. To make an even bigger change, he shortened and straightened out Hermione's hair before he turned it blond. Then he gave her blue eyes and darkened her skin tone. To show off, he also changed some of her kin structure and scaled down her ears. Then he went on with Ron and changed his appearance to match Hermione's so they looked like siblings.

When he was done, both Hermione and Ron looked at each in shock, so Hermione voiced "What's wrong?"

Tonks didn't answer, but conjured a mirror and gave it to Hermione. She took it and looked in it, but didn't recognize herself.

"How did you learn all of this and when did you learn this?" Hermione asked, a little bit jealous.

"I've been learning and reading a lot Hermione, I thought you had noticed it" Harry merely replied.

"You're right, I'm just amazed by what you've been able to learn since Christmas break"

"I know Hermione" Harry sighted "I'm just really motivated to learn as much as I can"

Hermione nodded "You could probably take your NEWT's with what I've seen you do"

"That is what I'm planning to do. I wanted to tell you two when I got out of the infirmary, but I'll try to take my NEWT's at the end of the year" Harry informed them, the end of his sentence barely audible. He was a bit afraid for their reactions.

"Why would you do that mate? Are you mental?" Ron asked, already feeling the pressure of just his OWL's, so he had trouble understanding that Harry would willingly do those, plus NEWT's which he had to learn all on his own.

Harry had a wry smile "I just can't take losing Sirius and having to go back to the Dursleys. Tonks found a law that if I pass on four NEWT's, you can become emancipated"

"Is it really that bad Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, Hermione, they hate me, I just can't go back there, not after Sirius" Harry told flat out, not bothering to cover it up like he used to do if they posed questions.

Hermione let her head hang before she straightened herself out again "How can we help?"

"You can just understand that I'll be in my books a lot" Harry said "And I'm sorry, I would have preferred to have two more years with you two here…"

"Harry, if you say it's bad at your relatives, then we know it's really bad, we know you, you tend to understate things" Ron spoke.

"Just promise us that you'll write and try to see us on Hogsmeade weekends, then we'll help you prepare for June" Hermione told him with a smile.

"Thanks guys, you have no idea what that means for me… There is one thing you could do for me. Could you order the Herbology and Potions books for seventh year for me" Harry asked.

"Sure, we'll do that after we leave" Hermione assured him. "But could you now turn us back? It's strange having this conversation while Ron looks so differently."

Harry laughed and undid the transformation so that his friends looked like themselves again. They talked for another half an hour before Ron and Hermione left the infirmary.

On Friday, Madam Pomfrey accompanied Tonks and Harry towards the Black Lake, where the memorial for Sirius would be held. They needed a long time before they finally got to the lake, with multiple stops, but eventually they made it and took place in one of the chairs.

"Are you alright Harry?" Tonks asked him when she saw his expression.

"I don't know, it just hits me he's really gone" Harry explained. It was the first time that he went outside the confines of the infirmary and seeing the setting for the memorial, it made it all very real.

Tonks just nodded and squeezed his shoulder.

One by one, the members of the Order and some of Harry's friends from the DA arrived. When everybody had arrived, Harry got up from his chair with a lot of trouble and slowly made his way to the front.

He held himself to the little altar they had placed in the front and spoke "Thank you all for coming. It means a lot to me and I believe it would have meant a lot to Sirius too. I wanted to do this memorial, since we have no other way of saying goodbye… As most of you know, Sirius was my godfather and the only real father figure I have known in my life, even though it was only for two years. I wished he got to enjoy freedom after he escaped from Azkaban, sadly, he was only pardoned posthumously. I hope he's with my parents now, causing a lot of mischief over there"

When Harry was done speaking, he lighted the candle in a lantern and held it, until it started to go up in the air. After that, he made his way to his chair again.

Once by one, Sirius' friends and family said goodbye to him, saying something and lighting a lantern for him.

Albus was the last person to speak and after he had said his goodbyes, he said "I would like to invite you to the empty classroom on the first floor of the North wing, we have prepared some refreshments there.

Everybody started to get up to leave, but Madam Pomfrey held back Harry and Tonks.

"You'll be getting there another way, the trip here was already exhausting enough"

That moment, Albus came to them with Fawkes on his shoulder "Fawkes has kindly agreed to flash you two to the castle, since he can feel your exhaustion"

Harry smiled and held out his arm for Fawkes. To Albus' surprise, Fawkes went to sit on his arm, and Harry started to stroke him "Thank you Fawkes"

A soft note escaped from Fawkes as a reply. Eventually Albus said "If you would each hold a feather, then he'll bring you there"

Tonks and Harry did what was asked from them and a second later, they were engulfed with flames and arrived in the classroom they had set up. Fawkes dropped them off in one of the sofas that had been places before he flashed away again.

"That was different" Tonks remarked.

Harry smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes "It certainly was, thank you for helping me with the memorial and thank you for what you said, he would have appreciated it"

Tonks hugged him while she said "I'll miss him too…"

They sat there like that for a while, until they heard voices come over their way. Harry saw that a man and a woman he suspected to be Tonks' parents coming over their way.

"Hey mom" Tonks said while her mother stooped to give her daughter a hug.

"How are you doing?" her father asked her.

"I'm getting there… I would like you to meet Harry, Harry these are my parents Andromeda and Ted Tonks" Tonks introduced him.

"Nice to meet you ma'am, sir" Harry told them, shaking their hands.

"Nice to meet you too, but those titles aren't necessary, call me Andromeda Harry and I believe Ted would be preferred to be called by his name too" Andromeda expressed, which Ted confirmed with a nod of his head.

Harry nodded, not knowing what to say.

"It's good to see you both doing better, I heard from Nymphadora that you were even in a worse shape than her" Ted said.

"I was unconscious for three days after the fight" Harry told them honestly.

Ted gave a nod before Andromeda asked her daughter "You never wrote us what happened Nymphadora"

Tonks pointed to the opposing sofa so her parents would go and sit down before she explained "Harry and two of his friends were kidnapped by three death eaters because they wanted him to retrieve something from the ministry for Voldemort. They managed to get away briefly until reinforcement came, and Harry managed to stall until we arrived. A fight broke loose and I had the pleasure of fighting with Bella"

A shocked look, followed by anger appeared on Andromeda's face before Tonks continued "She fought with me and got a lucky shot throwing me against a wall. Unfortunately, you know Bella, she didn't leave it there… I was placed under the cruciatus curse before she saw Sirius and fired a shot at him. That is when I lost consciousness"

Harry looked at Tonks who nodded at him, so Harry finished the story "Sirius fell through the veil as a result of that spell. I managed to follow Bellatrix to the Atrium, but she was not match for me. She quickly had me under the cruciatus curse, only stopping so Voldemort could take over after he had arrived. A few curses later I passed out, Dumbledore fought him and after that Voldemort apparently tried to possess me after that, but it didn't work because of the Occlumency Tonks taught me"

Ted and Andromeda were silent for a long while before Andromeda said "I'm really sorry for my sister"

"You aren't at fault for your sister's deeds Andromeda" Harry tried to convince her. He knew as well as everybody that family could shape you, but you could still make your own choices. If he hadn't himself, he would have gone to Stonewall High, trying to fit in.

Andromeda gave him a small smile "I know Harry, it's just hard to know that family could do such thing"

"It aren't blood ties that makes one family" Harry pointed out, thinking about his family that wasn't related to him by blood.

"Sadly that is true, now on another note. Nymphadora, what was the news you needed to tell us?" Andromeda asked.

So Tonks started to explain she would be the DADA professor for the coming three months, while she was recovering.

In the end, Harry had talked with almost every Order member and the people that had shown up from the DA, before he and Tonks slowly made their way back to the infirmary. Once there, they both just needed to feel the softness of the bed to fall asleep, only to wake up the next day.

During the last week of the vacation, Harry was still confined to the infirmary, while Tonks could have left the Thursday of the second week, but she had stayed to keep Harry company and also since she didn't have anything else to do.

On Sunday, Harry got to leave the infirmary, so he made his way to the Gryffindor Tower. He was still slow and he also needed to use a cane to support him a bit, but he wasn't exhausted anymore after a few meters.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer : I do not own anything of the Harry Potter universe, it all belongs to JK Rowling, I just love writing about the fantastic universe she presented us.**

 **This story is/was posted on my other account, since I had trouble posting a new story on this account. Now that it is all worked out, I'm moving that story here, since that will be easier to manage all of my stories. The story is mostly the same as before, minus some mistakes or typos.**

 **If there are still grammar or spelling mistakes, please let me know. English isn't my native language (plus I have dyslexia), so it is possible that there are still a few mistakes in my stories even though I edit them before I post them. I hope you'll enjoy the story.**

 **The Change - chapter 7**

After the Easter holidays, every fifth year student started to get overwhelmed with the assignments they got from their professors and the material they tried to study for their OWL's. Harry on the other hand was quite relaxed about it. He was more than ready for his fifth year exams and by the end of April, he was convinced he was ready for his NEWT's in Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, DADA and Herbology.

He studied in Tonks' private quarters two evenings a week and on Saturdays, where she helped him and explained him the things he didn't understand. She also helped him mourn for Sirius, while he did the same for her, by listening to him or reason with him when he started to feel guilty about Sirius' death again.

Tonks tried to give real DADA lessons for a change and focused almost entirely on the practical side of it. She knew that they had only seen theory with Umbridge and if they really hadn't seen a chapter, they could always do it in self-study. The experience on the other hand, they couldn't get that from reading a book. She helped the fifth and seventh years especially so they would be able to succeed in their OWL or NEWT. Luckily, there were a lot of them that had been taught by Harry in the DA, which was clearly visible in the proficiency they showed with their spell work.

For Harry, it had been strange to get taught by Tonks, while being her friend and spending quite some time in her quarters, but they had been able to do so without raising to many questions. Harry's invisibility cloak and the fact that Ron and Hermione didn't tell anyone where Harry went also helped with that.

The first weekend of May, Harry was in Tonks' private quarters again when he asked "What should I do now? I don't think there is anything else that I could do to prepare for the exams?"

Tonks chuckled at that statement. "I don't think I've ever heard a student complaining about that".

"You know I even learned for the OWL's of Ancient Runes and Arithmancy because I was bored, I lend Hermione's books to do so" Harry told her. It had surprised him as well how easy it was for him to study. He had stopped dumbing himself down and the Occlumency helped as well, which was the cause for his enormous change in study habits and intelligence that he showed.

"Then why don't you challenge yourself and study for their NEWT's" Tonks joked.

Harry thought about it for a minute, weighing the pros and cons and eventually answered "You're right, I might do that…"

"You do know I was joking right?" Tonks replied, seeing that Harry was actually serious about it. She herself had been amazed by Harry those past few weeks and actually already since Christmas.

"I know you meant it as a joke, but think about it. Arithmancy is used in the building of spells and the creating of wards, by studying it, I was able to understand warding better and I could apply that knowledge to my Occlumency shields. Arithmancy also helped me understand the spells I'm casting better. The only part I don't really like is using the numbers to predict the future, but I guess I'll have to get through those chapters. Runes are used when they want to perform rituals or set up extremely heavy wards. So why not, I have the time…" Harry pointed out.

"I really don't understand how you are able to process so much information" Tonks said.

Harry smiled "It started after I learned Occlumency. I don't have a headache anymore, all the time. I'm able to process everything better, so everything goes a lot faster. And I realized that I can actually do well, which was a bad habit that wasn't easy to break"

"Alright, if you want to be so crazy to do so, I won't stop you. Remember, you still have to convince professor McGonagall that you can take your NEWT's, especially if you really want to do Ancient Runes and Arithmancy too" Tonks reminded him.

"I know, I was planning on visiting her this afternoon actually" was said by Harry with a huge grin, as he realized that Tonks would support him in his choice.

"Good, it would be a shame if you had studied so much and couldn't take them because you forgot to ask"

The rest of the morning passed in quiet conversation and Harry learning from his Ancient Runes book. When he left Tonks' quarters, she gave him a kiss on the cheek and wished him good luck.

In a bit of a daze, from the kiss he had gotten from Tonks, Harry ate lunch and before he knew it, he stood in front of professor McGonagall's office. He knocked and after a positive reply, he entered her office.

"Good afternoon Mr. Potter, to what do I own the pleasure of your visit?"

"Good afternoon professor McGonagall, I wished to discuss my Hogwarts career with you if that was possible" Harry asked.

Professor McGonagall looked at him strangely, but pointed to the chair in front of her desk so he could go and sit.

Harry grinned and said "If you don't mind professor, I would prefer a more comfortable chair, since this will probably take a while" and he grabbed his wand to conjure a more fluffy chair.

McGonagall's eyes widened at the casual and non-verbal display of conjuration in front of her, while Harry took a seat.

Professor McGonagall recovered and questioned "What do you wish to discuss?"

"I wish to ask permission to do my NEWT's on top of my OWL's. I have been studying for them and I believe that I'm able to take them" Harry told her.

"Even though you just performed an exemplary piece of magic, are you sure you want to do this, that you are prepared?" she asked.

"Yes professor, ask me anything you want about your NEWT classes, I'll perform"

"Alright, you just showed me conjuration, why don't we do some human transfiguration. Because of the lack of testing subject, I'll allow you to perform the transfigurations on my, but please don't curse me Potter" professor McGonagall told him.

A twinkle appeared in Harry's eyes, not dissimilar to the twinkle often visible in the headmaster's eyes. "Okay professor, any preference?"

"No, you can go ahead as you wish" was the sole response from McGonagall, as she visibly braced herself a little for what would come. It was clear she didn't have full confidence yet in Harry's abilities.

Harry grinned again and started performing multiple spells on his professor before he asked "Do you mind if I transfigure your robes, the effect will be better"

"Do as you wish" professor McGonagall said, a bit curious to what he had done, as she had felt the spells being applied.

A few flicks of his wand later, Harry announced that he was done and conjured a mirror for his professor.

When professor McGonagall looked into the mirror, she jumped from the image she saw. When she looked in the mirror, she saw the spitting image of professor Dumbledore. She removed the spells with a few movements of her wand and looked at Harry again "I must admit, that was one exemplary piece of transfiguration, it is extremely difficult to transfigure a person to look like another person, since they mostly botch up the details. I'm very impressed"

"Thank you professor McGonagall. If you wish, I can also do human to animal transfigurations"

"That won't be necessary, I believe you've proven your point. What NEWT's do you wish to take?" she asked him.

"Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, DADA, Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes"

"Arithmancy and Ancient Runes?"

"Yes professor, I started Arithmancy after Christmas break, since it helps me with my Occlumency, then I got bored with reading extra books about the school contents, so I started picking up Ancient Runes, using Hermione's books. I only have to do the second part of the sixth year and the seventh year of Ancient Runes and I'm done with that too" Harry explained.

"Would you give me a minute" professor McGonagall asked and she left her office through a door.

A little while later, she entered her office again with professor Vector and professor Babbling.

"If you are serious about what you've told me, then I only ask of you to make some tests professor Vector and professor Babbling will give you. If you are done and able to pass, then we'll discuss the possibilities of your NEWT's" professor McGonagall suggested.

"That's alright for me" Harry answered, looking forward to being actually tested on the subjects he had studied by himself.

Professor Vector smiled and gave him a piece of parchment "This is a test I give in my third year, let's start with that"

The next four hours, Harry made the tests of Ancient Runes from third to fifth year and from Arithmancy from third to seventh year. Every time he was done with one, they gave him the next and started correcting his test.

Eventually, Harry was done so he asked the professors "Would you like to have some tea?"

After an affirmative from the three professors, he conjured a tea tray and started making tea. While professor Vector and Babbling were still correcting, professor McGonagall said "I'm really surprised with you today Mr. Potter and if you would succeed, I'll miss you at Hogwarts"

Harry smiled "I would miss Hogwarts too professor, but I believe it will be for the best"

"You have changed a lot the past year" professor McGonagall indicated. "I know the circumstances made you change, but you've really grown from a boy to a young man and you couldn't have made me prouder as your head of house"

"Thank you professor" and a blush that he couldn't hide crept on his face.

"Do you have any plans afterwards, should you succeed?" professor McGonagall inquired.

Harry shook his head "I don't want to get my hopes up, even though I know I've learned everything. So if I succeed, I'll be sure to make plans then"

Professor Babbling gave a little cough to attract their attention "I'm really surprised Mr. Potter, you've managed to make these test and pass them. If I should grade them it would definitely be an Exceeds Expectations. You're getting my approval to take you NEWT's"

"Thank you professor Babbling, I wished I had known more about Ancient Runes after my second year, then I might have took in on as an elective" Harry answered. "Thank you for your time today"

"It was my pleasure Mr. Potter, good luck" and professor Babbling left the office.

The next half hour, professor McGonagall told Harry about his parents while they were in Hogwarts, while professor Vector corrected the last tests.

Eventually she was finished and told him "You surprised me as well, judging from your tests, I would have to agree that you are ready to take your NEWT in this subject. I also wish you the best of luck"

"Thank you professor Vector, have a nice evening and thank you for taking your time to test me today" Harry politely said.

When Harry was alone with professor McGonagall again, she spoke "I wasn't suspecting that you would be able to do it, but apparently I was wrong. Now for your exams, you realize that you have to take both your OWL's and your NEWT's"

"Yes professor, I read that you have to take both you written exams but that you get a little extra time to do so, then in the afternoon you start with your practical OWL exam and if they think it's adequate, then you can proceed to do you NEWT practical exam" Harry said.

"You are correct Mr. Potter. This will be very hard, even though you've studied everything in advance, I hope you are ready for this?" professor McGonagall asked.

"I hope so professor, but I want to try at least"

"Alright, I wish you the best of luck Mr. Potter, if you need help, feel free to ask" professor McGonagall told him.

Harry got up from his chair and vanished it, before making a small bow with his head towards McGonagall. "Thank you professor, for the trust and the time"

"You're welcome Mr. Potter, now you should go to dinner, I imagine you're hungry" and with that Harry left the office of his head of house. What he didn't see after he had turned around, was the sad smile on McGonagall's face as she realized she hadn't helped him as much as she could have.

During the five years Harry had been in Hogwarts, she had never expected that he could show the potential he just had. It showed her that she didn't know him that well, since his hidden abilities must have been present already in first year. It made her rethink about how Harry practically never returned to her after he had send him away in his first year when he came to inform her about the philosopher stone.

She also became aware, by thinking about how she had failed Harry, that she was actually failing her house in total as a head of house. There were almost no students coming to her with problems, while she was aware that Pomona actually had a few students every week.

As she saw Harry retreat from her office, she made a promise to herself and to the house of Gryffindor that she would try to do an extra effort to help her lions.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer : I do not own anything of the Harry Potter universe, it all belongs to JK Rowling, I just love writing about the fantastic universe she presented us.**

 **This story is/was posted on my other account, since I had trouble posting a new story on this account. Now that it is all worked out, I'm moving that story here, since that will be easier to manage all of my stories. The story is mostly the same as before, minus some mistakes or typos.**

 **If there are still grammar or spelling mistakes, please let me know. English isn't my native language (plus I have dyslexia), so it is possible that there are still a few mistakes in my stories even though I edit them before I post them. I hope you'll enjoy the story.**

 **The Change - chapter 8**

The next month passed very rapidly. The teachers had stopped giving assignments and worked with their students during their lessons to prepare them for their OWL's. A few students had a breakdown and needed a calming draught. The library was full with fifth and seventh year students that were frantically trying to cram knowledge into their heads.

Harry focused that last month to further study his Ancient Runes and practice brewing his potions.

Eventually it was time to make their exams and the Sunday before their OWL's would start, Hermione was completely freaking out, thinking she would fail for every exam. It had taken the combined effort of Harry and Ron to help her calm down, by making her see that she knew her subjects by heart.

They would start with Charms the following day. Harry felt he couldn't do much more to prepare for that exam or he would start to mix things up. So after calming Hermione, he made a little trip to Tonks, where they just talked some, before he revised a little more and he went to bed.

The following morning, after breakfast, they took place at the desks that had appeared in the Great Hall. Harry started with his OWL exam and answered his questions as quick and complete as possible. After two hours, he was finished and handed in his exam, receiving the next one. When the regular time was over, everybody handed in his exam and Harry was led into the small room next to the Great Hall. A desk was standing there with some sandwiches. Harry worked through lunch on his NEWT examination while eating. He was finished half an hour before lunch was done and joined Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table.

"How was it?" Hermione asked, clearly hoping to discuss their exam.

"I believe it went alright, how did your exams went" he asked them.

Ron just answered with three words, while Hermione started going over the entire exam. When lunch disappeared, the fifth and seventh years gathered in the small room where Harry had finished his exam. They waited until they were called into the Great Hall to perform their practical exam.

When Harry was called in and directed to professor Tofty. "Good afternoon" he greeted the wizard.

"Good afternoon Mr. Potter, sorry for asking but you are the Harry Potter?"

"I'm afraid so, I don't know anyone else who carries my name. Nice to meet you" Harry answered, making the examiner raise an eye brow at this exclamation.

"I see on my examining paper that you will do your NEWT exam too if the first one goes alright, should we start?" professor Tofty suggested.

After a nod from Harry, professor Tofty instructed "Could you take this eggcup and make it perform cartwheels please"

Harry took the eggcup and performed the spell silently. The eggcup was making the cartwheels, until professor Tofty made it stop.

"Alright, could you summon that book at the teachers' table?"

Again, Harry just performed the correct wand movements and the book came flying to his hand.

"Very well, now could you give this teacup some legs and make it dance?"

Harry smiled, to make it a bit more interesting, he conjured a second teacup, gave them both legs and made them dance a tango.

"That is incredible, I haven't seen many that could make them do a synchronized dance. Could you now change the color of the teacups from this nice pattern to some red?"

"Any preference for the sort of red?" Harry asked politely.

"Alright, why don't you take Gryffindor red then" professor Tofty suggested.

Harry smiled and performed the color changing charm, making the teacups very Gryffindor.

"Okay, I believe that was your OWL examination, I can tell you, you can proceed with your NEWT examination. You will have to go to the little room again to wait for you next examination, best of luck" professor Tofty told him.

"Thank you professor" and Harry left the great hall.

Outside of the Great Hall, Hermione was waiting for him and when he saw her, he smiled "Sorry Hermione, but I can't stay, I have to return to the waiting room again"

Hermione flew in his neck and hugged him "I knew you would do great"

"Thank you, I'll see you later" Harry said, ending the hug and going back to the waiting room.

Now it was filled with seventh years students and when the Weasley twins saw him they took him aside and asked

"So wat is"

"Ickly Harry Potter"

"Doing here?"

"I'm taking my NEWT in Charms actually" Harry told him.

The twins were for once rendered speechless, so Harry used that time to explain his examination schedule.

"You're"

"Crazy"

"You know that?"

"I know, but I already passed my practical OWL of Charms, so that's already one less to go" Harry said optimistically.

They spent the rest of the time talking about the joke shop they were setting up with the money Harry had given them, until Harry was called into the Great Hall and went to professor Marchbanks.

"Good afternoon Mr. Potter, have a seat" professor Marchbanks greeted him.

"Thank you, good afternoon to you too"

Professor Marchbanks smiled before she said "I have seen parts of you OWL exam and I don't think that this exam should be a problem from what I've seen. If you can please perform the charms non-verbally, alright?"

After a nod from Harry, professor Marchbanks instructed "Could you make me some water?"

"Of course, but plain water is just boring" Harry pointed out, so he made a tea set and poured hot water in the teapot to make tea. "I thought some tea during the exam might be nice"

"Thank you Mr. Potter, you are right. Now could you turn this vinegar into wine?"

"White, red or rose?" Harry simply asked.

Professor Marchbanks looked at him in surprise before she answered "I prefer red wine, so why don't you try that" knowing that red wine was harder than white.

Harry nodded and performed the spell correctly. When professor Marchbanks took a sip, her face changed to delighted. "That is a very well performed charm Mr. Potter"

"Thank you" Harry acknowledge with a little bow of his head.

"Now as last charm, could you animate this figurine?" and she placed a stone figure of a cat in front of him.

Harry concentrated and performed the spell. The moment he had done so the cat began walking around. It started meowing when it didn't get any attention and started purring the moment Harry scratched the cat behind the ears before the curled herself in Harry's hand.

"Yes well, I believe that is a very well executed charm. Thank you and good luck with the rest of your exams" professor Marchbanks told him.

Harry left the Great Hall feeling really optimistic about his first set of exams. He started his way to Tonks' quarters to pay her a visit. He stayed there to decompress with some tea and cookies, before he went back to the Gryffindor Tower to revise for his next exam.

On Tuesday, they had Transfiguration, so after the written exam, where Harry needed all his time to complete both of the exams, they started with the practical examinations.

Harry started this time with professor Marchbanks. "Nice to see you again Mr. Potter, I'm curious how you'll do today"

After that, Harry silently switched a Hedgehog to Pincushion, vanished a pillow, doubled a couple of books and transformed successfully a glass into a dragon.

Then Harry had to wait again in the waiting room before he had to go to professor Waldender.

"Good afternoon, you've managed to pass your practical OWL exam, so we'll continue with the NEWT. Why don't you conjure the chair to sit on before we start" professor Waldender started.

Harry conjured a comfortable wooden chair with gracious wooden carvings before he went to sit.

"That's already a good start Mr. Potter, a very nice chair I have to admit. Now could you transfigure your leg into a wolfs paw?"

Harry nodded and easily changed his left leg so it became fury with claws, before he changed it back.

"It always feel weird when I do that" Harry commented.

Professor Waldended laughed "I know, now could you transfigure me so I'm unrecognizable?"

"I'll try" Harry said with a smile and started changing professor Waldender's face and body. When he was done, he was quite happy with the result. He conjured a full length mirror for the professor so he could admire his work.

Professor Waldended looked in the mirror and instead of the plump looking wizard, professor McGonagall looked back at him in the mirror, his robes and figure adjusted to the witch in question. The professor looked shocked and Harry looked to the back of the Great Hall where he had seen professor McGonagall enter a few minutes before and she gave him a smile.

"It is incredible the amount of details you changed to match perfectly to professor McGonagall" professor Waldended told him.

"I agree, I also believe he managed to do so very well" professor McGonagall said when she had come closer "It's almost as if I'm looking in the mirror. Congratulations Mr. Potter, you did and even better job than when you transfigured me into Albus"

Harry blushed from the praise and professor Waldended spoke "Yes, well if you manage to undo the transfiguration I would say the exam is completed"

Harry only needed a few seconds before professor Waldended looked like himself again. Harry thanked the professor and left the Great Hall, followed by professor McGonagall.

"It was amazing to watch you transfigure professor Waldended" she told him.

Harry smiled "Thank you professor, I hope you don't mind I transfigured him into you?"

"No, I actually feel honored Mr. Potter" professor McGonagall assured him. "I've already heard praise from professor Tofty and Marchbanks about you"

"I'm just doing my exams professor" Harry answered.

Professor McGonagall smiled, which was a rare sight, and said "I hope you'll keep up this standard"

Harry smiled back and said his goodbyes to professor McGonagall and made his way to Tonks' quarters. He knocked and it was opened by a smiling Tonks.

"How was it today?" she asked him.

"Judging from the professors faces and the praise from professor McGonagall just minutes ago, I would have to say good. The theoretical part went fine too, but I did need all of my time" Harry answered.

Tonks smiled even more "I'm glad to hear that, now do you want some tea or something to relax?"

"Some hot chocolate would be nice" Harry replied "Care to do some fun transfigurations"

"Sure, you start" Tonks told him, so Harry started with taking on a morph that Tonks had to copy.

They spend some time like that, putting together the most ridiculous morphs.

"Thanks that I can come here after an exam. Going to the tower and seeing everybody studying isn't really relaxing" Harry pointed out.

Tonks answered "That's no problem, I quite like you company Harry, you should know that by now"

"I just don't want to assume Tonks and I want you to know that I don't take coming here for granted" Harry told her.

She pulled him in a hug and thanked him, before wishing him good luck on his next exam.

On Wednesday, it was time for their Herbology exam. Here Harry had some more difficulty answering the questions on the written exam and again he needed all his time, but he still though he had passed the written examinations.

In the afternoon, he needed to make a Chinese Chomping Cabbage cut a carrot in fine pieces for his OWL examination and for his NEWT, he needed to harvest leaves from the Venomous Tantacula, preferably without being killed or injured. Harry only sustained a small cut and was able to harvest multiple leaves, so he was quite happy with the result.

After his examination, he went back to Tonks' quarters, but here she was waiting for him.

"What are we going to do?" Harry asked while she let him out of her quarters.

"We're going to practice for you exam tomorrow" Tonks answered him and led him to the seventh floor corridor, opening the Room of Requirements.

"Alright, what do I need to do?" he questioned.

"Simple, we're just going to duel a bit" Tonks explained.

Harry smiled "What happens if I win?"

Tonks thought for a moment before she gave her answer "If you win, you can count on an entire day spending with me, the way you want. If I win, you have to help me cleaning my apartment, since I'll have to go back there after the school year"

"Deal, any rules?" Harry asked.

"Nothing that isn't reversible and not aiming to do serious hurt. You win if a person is completely incapacitated" Tonks laid out the ruled.

"Alright, what landscape?"

Tonks answered "You can chose"

Harry nodded and immediately, the scenery changed to a forest.

They got into position and after a bow, the duel started. Harry started with firing two stunners towards Tonks. She had to roll away since she wouldn't be able to block them both that fast. That gave Harry the time to run a bit further.

He waited until Tonks would come by to strike again. The moment he heard something, he shot of a cutting spell, but Tonks had distracted him and stood at the other side. Only narrowly escaping an orange spell from Tonks, Harry started firing back with multiple spells. Tonks had been able to produce a powerful shield this time and stopped his attack.

Tonks shot a bludgeoning spell to a large branch above Harry and he had to run when it came down, being scraped by the little branches on the end of it.

Thinking quickly, Harry shot of a fire conjuring spell, setting the ground around Tonks on fire. With the fire closing in on her, she had to perform a spell to protect her from it, before she ran through the fire. In the meantime, Harry had conjured a wall, where he was hiding behind and he had conjured multiple projectiles.

Once Tonks was through the fire, Harry started firing off the projectiles with a levitation spell. Tonks was able to block them all and performed a powerful blasting spell against Harry's wall. Being knocked away by the blast, Harry performed a general, but strong shield, so he could regain his bearings again.

Going in the attack again, he faced Tonks face to face. They continued like that for a few minutes, shooting spells, ducking or rolling away, conjuring shields before Harry decided to loosely shoot at the left side of Tonks, making her to jump away to the right and being caught by a second spell from Harry, leaving her stunned.

Harry rennervated her and then made the scenery change to a cozy living room. He gave Tonks a hand and pulled her up.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked her.

"Yeah, just some cuts and scrapes and a think a little burn too" Tonks shrugged it off.

Harry smiled "Can I practice my healing spells?"

"Sure, give it a go" Tonks agreed.

Harry concentrated and managed to heal the cuts and scrapes, but he had more trouble with the burn. "Sorry, the burn doesn't seem to go away"

"Try the motion again, but after the upwards motion, you have to rotate your wand a quarter turn to the left" Tonks helped him.

Harry's face showed a lot of concentration and he tried the spell again. The first time, the burn faded a little bit, but the second time, the burn healed entirely.

"Well done, now get out of your shirt, you clearly have multiple cuts on your trunk" Tonks ordered him.

Harry blushed, but opened his shirt, showing his bare chest. Tonks carefully healed the cuts on his trunk while admiring the view. When she was done, Harry scourgified and repaired his shirt before he put it on again.

"I preferred the view without the shirt" Tonks teased him, causing his blush to deepen even more. Tonks knew that it was a really bad blush, since metamorphmagi were normally able to hide them quite well.

"You wish" Harry managed to tease back.

A feint blush appeared on Tonks' face before she said "It appears we missed dinner"

Harry thought for a moment and a dinner table appeared, calling out "Dobby"

Immediately a house elf appeared so Harry asked "Would it be possible to bring us some dinner Dobby? Tonks helped me for my exam tomorrow and we forgot about the time"

"It would be Dobby's honor Harry Potter. Dobby will be right back" and with a snap of his fingers he disappeared again.

"That elf is even more weird than any elf I've encountered" Tonks pointed out.

Harry pulled out a chair for Tonks while he answered "I freed Dobby from the Malfoys in my second year, since then he's a free elf who helps me out sometimes"

Then food appeared on the table and Dobby asked "Is there something else Dobby could help you with Harry Potter sir?"

"Is it possible to bring some pumpkin juice? Then I believe we have all we could ask for, thank you Dobby" Harry said.

"Dobby will be right back, enjoy your meal" Dobby said before bowed and then disappeared.

They took food on their plate and started eating, when two goblets with pumpkin juice appeared.

"You've done really great, I would say you're ready for tomorrow" Tonks said with a soft smile.

"It was luck that I got you with that stunner, I nearly missed you" Harry admitted.

"That may be, but the rest of the duel was really well thought out as well. You showed resourcefulness and creativity and didn't rely on merely jinxes and curses. That might not be what they are expecting from you tomorrow, but it will help you in the field" Tonks complemented.

"Thanks, I believe I got some ideas from a book you let me borrow, that made me thinking that a duel is more than shooting stunners and pulling up shields" Harry said. "After Easter, I started to come and practice more here in the Room of Requirement"

"I'm glad you read those books that well. I'd really like it to duel more with you, it's refreshing and it keeps me sharp, plus, I can use the exercise before I get on active duty again"

Harry quietly looked forward to it, since it would be another excuse to spend time with Tonks "Sure, I'd love to"

"Great, now go back to your tower before your friends report you missing. You'll do great tomorrow" she told him.

Harry hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek "Thanks for all the help"

Tonks' smile multiplied, but Harry didn't see it since he had already turned to leave the Room of Requirements.

The next morning, Harry woke up with a very good feeling. He took a long shower and made his way downstairs whistling. When he arrived that Gryffindor table, Hermione scowled at him "Don't be so chipper on the morning of an exam"

"Sorry Hermione, but I actually look forward to this exam" Harry admitted. "You'll do fine, I'm sure"

A bit calmer, Hermione went back to her breakfast. Harry and Ron talked a bit about the coming exam, until they had to clear the Great Hall so everybody could start with the written exams.

Harry started as usual with his OWL exam and was able to answer all the questions with ease and was sure he had even given more information than they had seen during their OWL year. When he had finished, he started with his NEWT exam and flew through that exam too. He preferred those questions, since they posed a little bit more of a challenge. When Harry handed in, professor Marchbanks looked at him in surprise, since he was finished before most of the other students had finished their one exam.

Relaxed, Harry left the Great Hall and went to wait for his friends. One by one, he saw people from the DA leave the Great Hall, until Ron first came out.

"How was your exam?" Harry asked.

Ron grinned "I thought it was quite easy, I'm sure I'll at least have an Exceeds Expectations"

"Great, mine went fine too. The NEWT exam posed a bit of a challenge, but I think I did well"

"I'm really glad I don't have an exam tomorrow, it will be nice to relax a little bit" Ron told him.

"I'll hopefully be free after lunch" Harry said "But since there isn't a practical exam of Ancient Runes, they'll let me work two full periods on my translations"

"I still don't get why you decided to take on Ancient Runes mate"

"I know, but you were busy with quidditch, winning that trophy, so I had to keep busy, didn't I" Harry pointed out.

Ron started recounting their last match against Ravenclaw in detail until finally Hermione got out of the Great Hall with a bunch of other students who had worked until the very last minute.

During lunch they talked, trying to keep Hermione from going over the exam question to question, until they finally had to go to the waiting room again.

Like the previous exams, Hermione had to go as the first of the trio and when Harry was called in, he got to go to professor Tofty.

"Good afternoon Mr. Potter, good to see you again"

"Nice to see you too professor Tofty, what will you have me do today?" Harry replied.

Professor Tofty started asking multiple jinxes, counterjinxes, curses, shields and defensive spells, which Harry was able to perform with ease.

"I'm already looking forward to seeing you perform on your NEWT examination, there has been a request for a special examination that we couldn't refuse. I hope you don't mind, you'll be tested as the last person" professor Tofty told him before he left the Great Hall.

Harry smiled "Of course not professor, I'm looking forward to it"

"Good to hear, you can wait in the usual waiting room. And please don't tell around you get a different exam, people could say you're favorited"

Harry nodded and left the Great Hall, only to go waiting again in the waiting room next to it. He saw how every seventh year was called in, while he had to wait. The Weasley twins were called in as the last ones and a quart hour later, he was asked to enter the Great Hall.

"Mr. Potter, as I explained to you before, we have a special examination for you. We will follow you towards the Room of Requirement, where you will be tested" professor Tofty told him.

"Alright" Harry told them and he led the four examiners towards the seventh floor. There was already a door there, which made Harry a bit suspicious. He got out his wand and cautiously entered the room.

The room was a ruin of a castle with land next to it and in the middle of the castle, Mad-Eye Moody was waiting for him.

"It looks like he already passed the first stage of the test, good to see you lad" Moody told him.

"Good to see you too professor, but what are you doing here?" Harry questioned.

Moody laughed "I've heard from a few people how gifted you are with this course and when I heard you wanted to take the NEWT exam, I suggested a different way of examining you, namely a duel with me"

Harry smiled "It would be my honor sir"

Harry saw that Tonks and professor McGonagall had joined the four examiners and were placed behind a ward.

"I'm glad to see the others are protected from stray spells" Harry pointed out.

Moody smiled "So you've noticed the ward, good, good. Now about the duel, no unforgivables, for the rest anything goes, until one of the opponents can't fight anymore"

Harry nodded and held his wand ready for a duel. Moody started sending a spell towards Harry, that he easily deflected, before sending two spells of his own back at him. They continued like that in a slow pace for a while, testing their opponent and slowly making their way through the ruins. At the same time, they were thinking about plans to trick the other.

Harry started his plan with performing a powerful water conjouring spell towards Moody. Moody got drenched, but quickly dried himself with a spell while seeking cover behind a wall. Harry went forward towards Moody and started firing spells in his directions at a high speed, forcing Moody to step back and eventually seeking cover again behind a wall. Seeing his opportunity, Harry quickly performed 'Glacius Tria', freezing the ground he had previously soaked with water.

He then continued to shoot spells at the wall Moody was hiding, until he was forced to leave his hiding position because the wall was crumbling. Then Moody performed the same technique Harry had used and pushed Harry back by firing multiple spells at once. Harry carefully stepped back. Moody was still shooting spells, until he slipped on the ice and fell on his back.

Harry took his chance and fired a stunning spell towards Moody, but he managed to roll away just in time, firing his own spell back, giving him time to get up. Moody then quickly led them away from the ice. This time, he conjured four stone figures that he animated and sent towards Harry. Harry quickly blasted the figures away, while using the cover of a piece of rubble to not been hit by Moody.

The duel went like that for a while, using tricks and lists, trying to overpower or outmaneuver the other. Then Harry got a crazy idea. He took cover behind a large standing wall before he thought of every positive thought he had and shouted "Expecto Patronum"

Moody was surprised by the course of action, since the patronus couldn't harm him. Harry led the stag towards him and patted it, glad to feel it very corporeal. He quickly climbed the stag and shot it towards Moody, while performing his strongest shield. He only needed it for two spells before he reached Moody and literally knocked him over. Harry then jumped of his patronus, stunned Moody, summoned his wand and bound him in ropes.

Once finished, Harry was surprised to hear clapping and looked over to the sound, to see the examiners, Tonks and professor McGonagall clapping for him. He had been so absorbed by the duel that he had forgotten that they were there.

Before he went to them, he unbound Moody and revived him.

Moody grumbled "My wand"

"Not before you declare this duel officially over professor, constant vigilance, remember"

Moody started laughing really loud and it was actually scary. "You're right lad, you've won the duel fair and square, now give me my wand"

Harry nodded and tossed it to the ex-auror, who caught it without a problem. Together they made their way towards their spectators.

"That was a marvelous performance Mr. Potter" professor Tofty complemented him.

"I'll second that lad" Moody cut in "Very resourceful, I've seen combinations of spells I hadn't expected"

"Yes, thank you for agreeing to this alternative examination, it was a nice change. Sadly you can't discuss it with people outside of this room, I hope you understand" professor Marchbanks said.

Harry nodded and conjured a chair and went to sit. He lifted the pipe of his leg, revealing a deep cut in his lower leg. He carefully healed it before he addressed the examiners "Sorry, that was irritating me a lot"

"No problem Mr. Potter, I'm surprised you're able to perform that healing spell yourself" professor Tofty said.

"Professor Tonks taught me during the Easter Holiday when we spent some quality time in the infirmary" Harry explained.

When Tonks saw that professor Waldender wasn't following she explained "Both Harry and myself were seriously injured at an incident at the ministry, we spent three weeks in the infirmary, recovering from those injuries"

"Of course, I forgot, I'm sorry" the professor quickly apologized, looking a bit uncomfortably as it was brought up, knowing that it would still be painful for both Harry as Tonks.

"I believe it is time for dinner" professor McGonagall pointed out, changing the subject a little.

So everybody left the Room of Requirement with Tonks accompanying Harry.

"You did great, it was amazing to see you fight"

"Thanks, I never thought I would be able to defeat Moody"

Tonks smiled "I don't think Moody expected it himself. I only managed to defeat him at the ending of his career and of my training, but I don't think I would be able to defeat him if he still had his two legs, you neither, I'm sorry"

"I understand" Harry chuckled "It's a shame I can't tell others about this duel, but I'm really honored he made the time for this"

They had arrived at the Great Hall and before Tonks made her way to the teachers table, she wished him good luck the next day with Ancient Runes.

During dinner, he just vaguely told Ron and Hermione how he thought he had aced both of the practical exams, but luckily they were disturbed constantly by fifth and seventh year member of the DA coming over to thank them for his help during the year.

Harry and Hermione revised as much as they could of Ancient Runes before they went to bed and Harry fell asleep, repeating the duel with Moody in his head.

Friday morning was the first time Harry was actually nervous for an exam. Sadly, Hermione wasn't doing any better, so they were both nervous wrecks when they started with their exam after breakfast.

Harry had to concentrate very hard on his exams. He felt quite well about his OWL examination, but he had needed until thirty minutes before lunch to finish it. Immediately after it, he started working on the NEWT exam, but this time immediately in the little room adjoined to the Great Hall. He barely ate from his sandwiches and sometimes needed to think a long time before he was able to translate the runes given to him. Eventually Harry was done, he had managed to finish the NEWT exam just in time, but his head was buzzing from the effort.

Mindlessly, he made his way towards Tonks' quarters and after being let in, he let himself sag into the coach. Tonks brought him a butterbeer and after a few swigs he said "Making two exams like that directly after each other isn't recommended"

Tonks chuckled and placed herself next to Harry "I can only imagine, how do you think it went?"

"I don't think I botched it up, but I don't know how well I did" Harry said and he threw his head backwards on the edge of the sofa. "I wish I could close my eyes for a moment"

Tonks looked at him and saw him all worked up and she knew that making his OWL's and NEWT's together was taking a larger toll on him than he let everybody see. She took his butterbeer from his hands and laid his head in her lap and ordered him to close his eyes.

Harry was too tired to say no and he did as Tonks had said. He was gone within a few seconds, Tonks stroked through his hair for a while. When after an hour of this Tonks realized, he wouldn't wake up soon, she knew she had to do something.

Thinking quickly, she send out a patronus towards professor McGonagall and a few minutes later, her fire place flared up and professor McGonagall came through.

She went to sit on the armchair opposing the sofa and whispered "I got your patronus Tonks, thank you for informing me"

Tonks smiled and looked at Harry before she answered "I know we could both get into trouble if I just let him sleep like that, but I didn't want to wake him. It seems like he desperately needs the rest"

Professor McGonagall looked at Harry and saw the lines of stress on his face, even though he was quite relaxed for the moment "You're right. I'm sorry for asking, but it seems like this has happened before?"

"Once, after the attack on Arthur. I started teaching Harry Occlumency. He had worked an entire day, organizing his mind and putting up basic defenses. When he was done doing so, he just fell asleep and apparently, shortly afterwards so did I" Tonks explained.

"How comes Molly didn't hex you when she found out?" professor McGonagall enquired.

"Have you heard about the first week and a half after Harry arrived at the headquarters this summer?" Tonks asked.

When professor McGonagall shook her head Tonks told "After we picked him up from his relatives, he and I didn't really got along. After the hearing, I was so sick of it, that I forced him to talk to me about it. For privacy measures and such, I had put up some wards. We found out that we have a lot in common after putting aside our differences and started talking, until I fell asleep on his shoulder. Apparently, he carried me into my bed and tried to leave my room, but couldn't. He slept on the floor that night, not wanting to wake me up. We were lucky Moody was at the headquarters that night and saw how Harry was sleeping on my floor, after scanning the house for him"

"So that time Molly didn't overreact because Moody had already told her where exactly Harry had slept?"

"Exactly, that second time during the Christmas holidays, I knew I would fall asleep, so I removed the wards we usually put up and let my bedroom door half-open. Mrs. Weasley saw us sleeping and even placed a warm meal in my room if we would wake up hungry" Tonks further explained.

Professor McGonagall nodded and said "Let him sleep if you want"

Tonks smiled and stroked through Harry's hair absentmindedly.

"You care about him a lot don't you?" professor McGonagall asked.

"Yes, he's the first person who understands me and he's the only person that knows about my history in Hogwarts" Tonks told her. "He also told me about his past, not leaving anything out"

Professor McGonagall was surprised when she heard that, she knew that Tonks usually didn't talk about that period with anyone and also that Harry had apparently shared that much with her, since he normally didn't talk that easily. That told her a lot about their bond and she said as well. "That does tell me a lot"

It was quiet for a while before professor McGonagall spoke again "I won't judge Tonks, it's clear for me that you care about him and that you won't hurt him. Plus I don't think anything happened between you two, right?"

"Even if he feels the same, I wouldn't do a thing or let him do a thing before we can legally be together. I've seen what can happen while I was still in training, with a ministry official, I won't risk that for myself, but especially not for him. So for the moment we are just really good friends that can count on each other" Tonks answered.

"I'll leave you two then, I still have to prepare some things for the regular exams. You won't get into trouble and I'm glad you're thinking this through Tonks, he can do without extra problems" professor McGonagall told her before she left through the fireplace again.

Tonks first read in a book and then ate some sandwiches brought by a house elf, before she adjusted the sofa a bit, so she would also sleep comfortably and let herself drift away.

The next morning Harry woke up, feeling more relaxed than he had in a long time. When he opened his eyes, he noticed he wasn't in his dorm room and quickly realized that he was still in Tonks' quarters and after quick assessment, he assumed he fell asleep in Tonks' lap. Her arm laid over his chest and he quite reveled in the feeling.

He knew he was in trouble, but decided to ignore it and just enjoy the relaxed feeling he had and the proximity to Tonks. He had by long realized that he liked Tonks more than a friend and lately he started to believe that the feeling was mutual.

Harry moved a little, turning his head so he looked upwards, but the movement woke up Tonks.

She smiled and said "So you finally wake up. I hope you slept well?"

"Actually I did, the best sleep in weeks" Harry admitted.

"Good, now before you think you're in trouble, I cleared it with McGonagall yesterday, so don't worry" Tonks informed him.

Relieve washed over Harry, he wouldn't mind if he was in trouble, but he wouldn't have wanted Tonks to get into trouble.

"Now, you should head to the tower and change clothes before you get some breakfast" Tonks told him.

Harry nodded and got up to a sitting position again. "Thanks Tonks"

"You're welcome, good luck with revising"

Harry smiled and got up to leave Tonks' quarters, giving her one last smile before he headed towards the Gryffindor Tower.

The rest of the weekend, Harry went over his potions material, after explaining to Ron and Hermione why he hadn't come back after his exam. He was determined to do well on that exam, to prove to Snape he could perform well on the exam.


End file.
